Dear Friends of Creation,
There is a moment each harvest that stays with us long after the last grapes have been picked – a quiet recognition that nature has, once again, delivered something extraordinary. This week, we experienced one of those moments as the Art of Chardonnay grapes for the 2026 vintage were hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed and filled into barrel.
At Creation, we believe that the cultivation of land was humanity’s first creative act. And as Jean-Claude watched the 2026 Art of Chardonnay grapes arrive at the cellar and go straight to whole bunch press, his response was simply this: ‘The quality of these grapes makes me smile. It looks like a very promising crop.’
After more than two decades on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, that smile says everything.
FROM THE VINEYARD
Glenn Martin, Fourth-Generation Winemaker
The 2026 vintage was a relatively dry and early year. Good winter rainfalls in 2025 meant there was enough water in the ground and the vines coped well during the growing season. Flowering was good, and the drier conditions led to pristine small berries forming, with lots of concentration. We did have two days with some rain a week and a half before picking. However, it wasn’t significant enough to warrant too much stress, and Jean-Claude’s European background showed: ‘Don’t jump the gun, wait patiently for nature to deliver.’
Seeing the grapes come in over the sorting table proved him right. As much as I would like to think that I know everything, thirty years of experience definitely showed this harvest.
The grapes have now been pressed and are busy being filled into barrel. To some extent the work is now done, and it’s up to the yeast to produce the magic.
Overall, this is a really nice follow-up vintage from 2024 and 2025. And speaking to my friends in Europe, I’m once again feeling extremely grateful for the relatively perfect growing seasons we’ve experienced over the last couple of years.
Gerhard Bruwer, Viticulturist
The Art of Chardonnay grapes came in at 6 tons per hectare – the perfect crop size – with small, concentrated berries. They were hand-picked and selected from our south-facing slopes in the cool of early morning, ensuring that the fruit arrived cold into the cellar.
Meticulous vineyard selection at Creation means the grapes go straight to whole-bunch pressing – no sorting table is needed.
Vineyard growth and crop size were in harmony with one another, and the abundant airflow through the bunch zone meant there was no rot whatsoever following the rains ten days before harvest. A harvest date on par with previous years confirms the consistency of our Ridge terroir, with the earliest Art of Chardonnay pick in recent memory being 15 February (2024) and the latest 8 March (2022).
Carolyn Martin, Creative Director
These vineyard insights capture something that has become increasingly evident to us and to the wine world: Creation is experiencing a golden run of vintages. The patience Glenn describes in Jean-Claude – that instinct to trust nature rather than react to it – speaks to the philosophy at the heart of this estate. Nature leads and innovation follows.
FIVE VINTAGES, FIVE STORIES
Each vintage at Creation tells its own story of weather, patience and the decisions made alongside nature. Our position on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, with its maritime influences and cool-climate terroir, gives us a growing season temperature remarkably close to Burgundy – within just 0.3°C of that acclaimed French region. It is this unique environment that allows our Chardonnay to develop the flinty minerality, saline tension and limestone-like precision that critics have increasingly compared to Puligny-Montrachet.
Here is a glimpse into the recent vintages that have shaped the wines now in your glass and in our cellar:
2021
The Benchmark
A wet, cold winter gave way to a dry, cool summer with exceptional hang time. The result: mineral-driven wines of Burgundy-style precision. The Art of Chardonnay 2021, with its flinty reduction, limestone minerality and saline length, drew comparisons to Puligny-Montrachet, scoring 94–95 points. A showcase vintage for Creation’s identity: old-world structure with new-world purity.
2022
Balance & Fruit Complexity
The Cape’s wettest and coldest winter in recent memory produced vigorous growth and fruit-driven complexity. A late heat spike required careful management, but cool autumn conditions allowed extended hang time. The Art of Chardonnay 2022 – of which just 3,920 individually numbered bottles were produced – became one of the most acclaimed South African white wines in recent memory. It was named among Decanter’s top five Wines of the Year 2024 by regional editor Julie Sheppard – the only white wine selected, scoring 95 points. First featured in Decanter’s March 2024 issue following a visit to the Hemel-en-Aarde by Andy Howard MW, the wine was described as pristine and Chassagne-like. The article concluded that Hemel-en-Aarde ‘should be on the radar for all Burgundy lovers’. Jancis Robinson’s team awarded the wine 17.5/20, with Tamlyn Currin praising its ‘striking singularity’ – intensely savoury, with steely citrus and a tight, taut finish. Austrian publication Falstaff scored it 96/100, noting it had ‘the substance of a Burgundian Grand Cru’. Tim Atkin MW and Greg Sherwood MW both scored consistently in the mid-90s across the range. A vintage that demonstrates Creation’s versatility – serious, age-worthy wines alongside approachable, elegant expressions.
2023
Resilience & Brilliant Whites
A challenging year with December rains and fungal pressure tested the team’s skill. Strategic harvesting – picking Chardonnay before the heaviest rains – saved the early cultivars, and the whites were outstanding. Higher natural acidities and lower alcohol produced wines of remarkable freshness. Glenn’s Chardonnay 2023 – just 1,500 bottles, hand-harvested from 21-year-old vines – was awarded 17.5/20 by Jancis Robinson MW in a blind tasting alongside Burgundy, earning her top score of the day. She called it a ‘humdinger’ with ‘real structure and bite’ and ‘what a build towards the finish’. Tim Atkin MW scored it 95 points, noting ‘the boy has talent’ and praising its lovely tension and focus, piercing acidity, and lime and tangerine flavours. The Art of Chardonnay 2023 received 94 points from Atkin, who described it as smoky, compact and layered with a chiselled finish – an age-worthy white from Creation’s oldest Chardonnay block. The sparkling base was exceptional. A vintage that showcased Creation’s expertise in managing what nature delivers.
2024
Elegance from Adversity
A Level 9 storm during flowering devastated the Chardonnay crop – yields fell 46% below average. Yet what remained was intensely concentrated and pristine. A dry summer with just 69mm of harvest rainfall (compared to 195mm in 2023) delivered perfect ripening conditions. Tim Atkin MW named the Art of Chardonnay 2024 one of his Wines of the Year, awarding it a remarkable 96 points and described JC Martin as ‘something of a Chardonnay specialist, who always seems to know how to get the best out of the variety’. He praised the wine’s wonderful focus and precision, layers of oatmeal, lime and waxed lemon, and mineral-etched finish. Glenn’s Chardonnay 2024 received 95 points from Atkin, who noted it is ‘now sold at the same price as his father’s Art bottling’, and an outstanding 96/100 from Jamie Goode, who praised its vivid acidity, layered complexity and stony mineral character – a remarkable endorsement for a fourth-generation winemaker working from the same single block as the Art. Greg Sherwood MW praised the Art of Chardonnay 2024 for its ‘beautiful tension and restraint’ with white blossom, crushed granite and wet stone minerality, recommending it for drinking through to 2036. With ageing potential of eight to twelve years, these are wines of quiet power born from adversity.
2025
‘Some of the Best Ever’
Virtually no rain during the shortest harvest in years. Zero disease pressure, and exceptional grape quality across every cultivar. Viticulturist Gerhard Bruwer called it potentially the best vintage ever. A landmark vintage for Creation. Cellarmaster Jean-Claude Martin’s verdict: ‘Just perfect.’
THE CRITICS’ PERSPECTIVE
In his landmark Decanter article ‘Hemel-en-Aarde: A Chardonnay Paradise’, Andy Howard MW wrote: ‘In just a few decades, this arrestingly beautiful part of South Africa’s south has risen to join the elite of regions reputed as top-quality sources of the world’s best-loved white grape.’ He observed that the Chardonnays of the Hemel-en-Aarde deliver compelling citrus freshness and minerality alongside power, intensity, ageability, fragrance, refined oak and salinity. Of Creation’s Art of Chardonnay 2022, he described a wine that was pristine and Chassagne-like – the highest of compliments from a Burgundy specialist.
As JC himself told Decanter: ‘Hemel-en-Aarde produces Chardonnays of great elegance and finesse: haunting, restrained, with acidity and texture lifting them from a broader style.’
Over recent vintages, Creation’s Art of Chardonnay has consistently been scored between 94 and 96 points by some of the world’s most respected voices in wine, including Tim Atkin MW, Greg Sherwood MW, Jamie Goode, Julie Sheppard and Falstaff, with Jancis Robinson MW’s team awarding a score of 17.5 out of 20. Three Creation wines were named among Tim Atkin’s Wines of the Year in his 2025 South Africa Special Report, and our Ridge Chardonnay 2024 was ranked 13th in JamesSuckling.com’s Top 100 Wines of South Africa 2025. Jamie Goode included Creation’s Glenn’s and Art of Chardonnay among his top South African Chardonnay picks in his Crib Sheets – the company of Burgundy specialists and cool-climate pioneers. Perhaps what matters most, though, is not the scores themselves but what critics consistently recognise in our wines: a deep connection to place, the influence of our cool-climate Ridge terroir, and the quiet confidence of winemaking shaped by generations of knowledge.
THE WORLD’S PERSPECTIVE
Beyond the scores, we have been profoundly moved by the words of international wine professionals who have visited the Ridge recently and experienced our terroir first-hand.
Mary Gorman-McAdams MW — Master of Wine, USA (first visit to the Hemel-en-Aarde)
‘I had not realised the impact of the wind. That is one thing that really stuck out for me – the beauty and the purity of the wines.’
‘He’s not just talking. We can see that. That’s real.’ – on having JC’s description of the Ridge climate confirmed before her eyes
‘You kind of wonder why these wines are not more recognised and established for the quality that you taste in the wine and actually see in the vineyard.’
Jane Boyce MW — Ireland’s First Female Master of Wine (returning after fifteen years)
‘It’s interesting to see how [Hemel-en-Aarde] has developed. There were only two or three estates really at that time.’
‘It is just truly heaven on earth.’
‘It was an unpainted canvas. How wonderful to be able to take nature at its best and paint your picture on it.’
Robin Kick — Wine Professional, USA / Switzerland (first visit to South Africa)
‘The aromatic lift and the real quality from these cooler regions was very good.’
‘This is an incredible landscape. It is a place I have wanted to go for years and years.’
Jean-Michel Valette — Former Chairman, Château Pétrus & the Hess Collection
‘The Oldest World, Newest Spirit.’
These are not our words. They are the words of the world, speaking back to us about the place we are privileged to call home.
EXPERIENCE THE STORY
Numbers and tasting notes can only tell part of the story. To truly understand what makes these vintages extraordinary, we invite you to join us on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge. Walk through the vineyards where these grapes were grown, taste the wines alongside our seasonally inspired cuisine, and feel the maritime breeze that shapes every vintage.
Whether you are discovering Creation for the first time or returning to explore what’s new, our team looks forward to welcoming you with warmth and sharing the passion behind every glass.
With warmth and gratitude,
Carolyn, Jean-Claude & Glenn Martin
and the Creation Wines Family
7th World’s Best Vineyards • 2nd in Africa
Vinexposium V d’Or Best Brand Experience 2024 • Global Top 50 since 2019
To make a reservation, email us at reservations@creationwines.com
or call us on 028 212 1107
creationwines.com
‘At Creation, nature leads and innovation follows.’