On International Pinot Noir Day, Tuesday 18 August 2026, Creation Wines has not one but four signature wines for you to enjoy and compare, all coming from a single appellation at the Cape’s cool southern edge.
The line-up is anchored by the Emma’s Pinot Noir 2024, recently awarded 97 points by Christian Eedes of Winemag.co.za and 94 points by Tim Atkin MW, and by the Art of Pinot Noir 2024, from Creation’s oldest Pinot plantings – a wine awarded 96 points by Greg Sherwood MW and 95 points by Tim Atkin MW in its current release.
All four wines are made by the same team, in the same appellation, from vineyards that in some cases sit only a few rows apart. Each is distinct in aromatics, structure and character:
- Creation Pinot Noir 2025 – fragrant, red-fruited, with soft earthy undertones (R320).
- Creation Ridge Pinot Noir 2024 – layered and velvety, structured for a decade of maturation (R480).
- Creation Art of Pinot Noir 2024 – single-site, barrel-selected, individually numbered, from vineyards first planted in 2002 (R1,010).
- Emma’s Pinot Noir 2024 – named for the Martins’ daughter, from a west-facing block next door to the Art of Pinot Noir vineyard (R1,010).
About the appellation. The Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge is the highest and coolest of three appellations in the Hemel-en-Aarde, a narrow valley above Hermanus on South Africa’s whale coast, an hour and a half from Cape Town. Creation’s vineyards sit at 240 to 300 metres above the Atlantic, on Bokkeveld shale on clay loam that is 450 million years old. The site’s elevation and proximity to the sea produce a diurnal swing of up to 12°C between midday and midnight – a rhythm that ripens the grapes seven to ten days later than the rest of the Hemel-en-Aarde, at full phenolic maturity and lower sugar levels. This gives the wines their acidity, aromatic clarity, and ability to age.
A fingerprint of place. Tasters trained on Burgundy often note black tea in fine Pinot Noir. Here on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, that same aromatic register arrives as honeybush – specifically Cyclopia genistoides, the Sandveld honeybush that grows on the coastal plains and slopes of the south-western Cape. Afrikaans-speakers call it kustee – coast tea. Our vines sit nine kilometres from the Atlantic, on the same coastal slopes of the south-western Cape. We think a honeybush note in our Pinot Noir wines is a signature of the Ridge.
‘For us, Pinot Noir is the most honest narrator in the story of our ancient soils, cool maritime breezes, diurnal fluctuations and changing seasons. But fine wine takes fine people – from our vineyard team to our winemakers – and each decision made in harmony with nature is reflected in the glass,’ say JC and Carolyn Martin.
On International Pinot Noir Day, Creation invites the trade, the press, and wine lovers around the world to open a bottle from the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge – in Hermanus, in their homes, or on tables from London to Tokyo.
Ends
About Creation. Founded in 2002 by Swiss winemaker Jean-Claude Martin and his South African wife, Carolyn Finlayson Martin, on a former sheep farm where no-one had ever imagined planting vineyards. Creation’s Pinot Noir blocks were the first virus-free plantings in South Africa post-1994, and today they supply mother-vine material to vine nurseries across the country. The estate is a WWF-SA Conservation Champion, IPW certified, with a circular water system, solar-powered cellar, using sustainable-forest cork, no plastic. Recognition includes 3rd Best Vineyard in the World (Best Vineyard in Africa) at the World’s Best Vineyards Awards (2024), Best Brand Experience at the inaugural V d’Or Awards in Paris (2024), and Best Restaurant on a Wine Estate at the Eat Out Restaurant Awards (2025).
About Emma’s Pinot Noir 2024. From a west-facing block first planted in 2007, adjacent to the Art of Pinot Noir vineyard. Thirty percent whole-bunch, wild ferment, thirty percent new French oak, twelve months’ maturation, no fining, no filtering. Christian Eedes of Winemag.co.za describes it as ‘a compelling rendition of the variety’ with ‘beautiful aromatics of red fruit, rose geranium, rosemary, incense and white pepper. The palate is seamless with good fruit weight, snappy acidity and powdery tannins, the finish deeply savoury.’ 97/100.
About Art of Pinot Noir 2024. From Creation’s oldest Pinot Noir plantings – clone 115, south-east-facing, planted in 2002. The 2024 harvest yielded 4.7 tonnes per hectare – 13 percent below the block average – with 69mm of rainfall during picking. Fifty percent whole-cluster spontaneous fermentation in large foudre, malolactic in barrel, thirty percent new French oak, around two years’ maturation, no fining, no filtering. Greg Sherwood MW: 96 points, declaring Creation to be ‘leading the quality charge’ with the current release. Tim Atkin MW: 95 points – ‘structured, serious and intense, a wine made by a man who has drunk a lot of Burgundy in his life: savoury, layered and black fruited, with a thread of acidity and clove spice from 50% whole clusters.’ Art of Pinot Noir 2022 was selected by more than 30 sommeliers from The World’s 50 Best Restaurants for the World’s Best Sommeliers’ Selection 2025.
Media welcome. To arrange interviews with JC or Carolyn Martin, to walk through the vineyards when you next visit Hermanus, for high-resolution imagery and technical sheets, please contact:
Carolyn Martin
Creative Director
+27 72 673 1880
carolyn@creationwines.com