Every year Creation opens its doors to cellar interns from around the world to join winemakers JC Martin and Gerhard Smith and cellar assistants Kirsten Myburgh and Urle Hansen in producing world-class wines. Two months ago the team was joined by Dutch vinologist Jordy Hesseling who has been working as a floor manager in a winebar in the Netherlands for the past seven years.
Asked why he had chosen to join the Creation 2020 harvest team Jordy simply replies: the wine! “I was looking for a place to do an internship to get to know more about the winemaking business after completing the Vinologenopleiding (Dutch equivalent of WSET Level 4). The Creation wines convinced
me!” Jordy came across the Creation wine range at a Vinites tasting in the Netherlands where he met co-owner Carolyn Martin and Daniela Messina who were presenting their award-winning wines at a spring event in Haarlem.
Thus far, Jordy says the harvest has been tough. “I’ve never worked as hard in my life as the last couple of weeks and as I’m not really a morning person I had to adjust to starting bright and early. But everything is going well, the crop looks nice and it’s supposed to become a good vintage, so that makes it worth it! However I have noticed that winemakers hardly ever talk about the harvest quality until the wine is in the bottle.”
His impressions of Creation have been positive with special mention of the friendliness and energy of the Creation team. And then those evening braais after a hard day’s work – time to relax, recharge and enjoy the South African sunsets.
What then are his expectations of the 2020 Creation vintage? “I’m really curious about how the wines will develop after fermentation, and hopefully, we get a chance to taste some of them. I’m looking forward to the last day of picking as well; when all the grapes are in, it would be kind of a relief I think.”
Check back in at the end of April to see Jordy’s harvest wrap.