Inspired by Nature and meticulously crafted by cellarmaster Jean-Claude Martin, each wine in Creation’s flagship Art Series is the ultimate expression of its terroir and indeed an exquisite and multifaceted artwork in its own right.
Innovation fired by passion
Charisma dancing on the breeze
Authenticity born of the earth
Memories to treasure
Inspiration to shoot for the moon
Our Creation Art of Chardonnay 2023 is a limited-release, barrel-selected wine from a specific pocket within a single vineyard. Each bottle is individually numbered (only 6520 bottles in 2023), offering exclusivity and collectability.
Located on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, Creation’s elevation, proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, cool night index (diurnal fluctuation of 12°C) and early morning cloud cover make it possible for grapes to ripen slowly, resulting in wines with remarkable freshness and finesse. In our Chardonnay vineyard, at 260 metres above sea level, seams of 590-million-year-old quartz sparkle through the clay-loam soils of 450-million-year-old Bokkeveld Shale. These growing conditions create wines with steely tension as well as elegance and finesse.
The quality of the grapes determines the quality of the wine. It started in 2003 with virus-free planting material (three different Chardonnay clones and rootstocks respectively) and a commitment to using science to understand nature better. It continues today with farming methods aimed at ensuring healthy soils for future generations, from our use of organic fertilisers and cover crops to mechanical weed control and hand-harvesting.
Critically, the same skilled individuals in our permanent, hands-on viticultural team are responsible for pruning the vineyards, doing the suckering, and picking the grapes. ‘This handcrafted approach creates a virtual circle of quality throughout the growth period,’ says cellarmaster Jean-Claude (JC) Martin.
He reports that the 2022/2023 growing season started with good flowering conditions, which means there was not much wind. ‘It was wet in late October and early November, followed by some heatwaves in December and January, but damage was minimal thanks to good canopy management. We had 200mm of rain over the harvest period, but we managed to get all the grapes into the cellar before the big rains, and in excellent condition.’
In late February, the grapes for our Art of Chardonnay 2023 were hand-harvested early in the morning into small crates, two bunches deep. After whole bunch pressing, only the free-run juice was fermented in 70% second-fill and 30% new-fill French oak barrels, mostly spontaneously, with just a few barrels inoculated with a neutral champagne yeast. The wine was then left on the lees for 11 months to undergo 100% malolactic fermentation without batonage, which provides wood integration and complexity while retaining freshness. After a final barrel selection, the Art of Chardonnay 2023 was bottled without fining or filtration.
‘Stylistically, the Art of Chardonnay 2023 is a very classic vintage, quite restrained,’ says JC.
Tasting Note
Seams of quartz sparkle in this vineyard; a wine with steely tension, yet elegantly refined.
Terroir
Wine of Origin: Walker Bay
Appellation: Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge
Soil: Seams of quartz between Bokkeveld Shale Clay Loam
Elevation: 264 m
Aspect: Southern slope
Vintage
Harvest Date: 24 February 2023
Rainfall: 729 mm (1 June 2022 – 31 May 2023)
Ripening: Long ripening period with the southern aspect
Avg Temp: 22° C during the growth period
Analysis
Alcohol: 13.5 vol%
Total Acid: 6.8 g/l
pH: 3.2
Residual Sugar: 1.4 g/l
Viticulture
Single site
Trellising System: 7-wire Perold
Vine Age: 20 years
Clones: 95, 96, 548
Rootstock: R110