At Creation all grapes are harvested in the time-honoured way – by hand. This is in line with co-owner Jean-Claude (JC) Martin’s respect for Mother Nature and his artisanal approach in both the vineyard and the cellar.
Why hand-picking? “Our harvest team knows exactly what to look for in a bunch, ensuring that no overripe or damaged grapes or leaves land in the crates. This precludes the need for sorting tables and additional handling. Another consideration for hand-harvesting is the fact that grape skins are easily bruised. Our pickers handle each bunch with care, snipping it off some 10 cm away from the stalk and then dropping it gently into the crate,” explains JC.
When to harvest is of course a crucial factor in determining the quality, structure and character of the wine. Sugar levels are important because they determine the potential alcohol in the wine. Acid retention is as important, as it imparts freshness to the wine and balances the sugar, tannin and alcohol. It is thus desirable to have healthy levels of natural acidity at harvest; grapes harvested too late may lack acidity making the wine seem jammy and overripe.
Once JC has identified the point at which the sugar and acid levels are in balance and the grapes have reached phenolic ripeness, he gives the go-ahead. Then the harvest team moves in before dawn to get the grapes from the designated vineyard block into the cellar as fast as possible.
According to JC, Creation has been blessed with great weather conditions during the 2020 harvest. The mid-January rains have allowed the vines to flourish with healthy canopies, particularly the later ripening cultivars like Merlot and Syrah. This in turn means good flavour development and balanced sugar levels, promising wines of elegance and finesse.
But picking is of course only a part of the harvest story. At the time of writing the Creation cellar too is buzzing with activity. Watch this space to find out more and to meet Creation’s two harvest interns for 2020, Nico Weber from Germany and Jordy Hesseling from the Netherlands.
