Creation Art of Chardonnay 2022: Decanter’s favourite SA wine in 2024
What a wonderful start to the year: to discover that Decanter’s regional editor for Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, Julie Sheppard, had included our Art of Chardonnay 2022 among her top five Wines of the Year 2024!
It was the only white wine chosen, alongside three reds from Australia and one from New Zealand, with a score of 95 and the following tasting note: ‘Pristine Chardonnay with a very cool feel on the palate. Hint of smokiness, vibrant acidity and a powerful saline character add up to a complex, pithy, concentrated wine which will age beautifully.’
The article concluded: ‘It proves why Hemel-en-Aarde, one of the world’s most southerly wine-producing regions, should be on the radar for all Burgundy lovers.’
Our flagship Art of Chardonnay 2022 was first featured in the March 2024 issue of Decanter, following a visit to the Hemel-en-Aarde visit by Andy Howard MW. Read more here.
We produced 3,920 bottles in 2022, each individually numbered and retailing locally for R970 ex-cellar. Only a few are still available through our international UK and Europe shops.
Looking ahead, our theme for 2025 is Culture in Agriculture, and we would like to set the scene by inviting you to watch this remarkable short film about the environments and resources associated with the emergence of behaviourally modern humans (i.e. us) on the south coast of the Cape Floristic Region. As humans, it was Our First Home, and we feel incredibly blessed that Creation Wines can still call it home.
Apart from anything else, the film makes it abundantly clear why our chefs are able to source almost all of our food ingredients from within an 80km radius of the estate.
Our Summer Pairing Menu, which launched last month,celebrates the connections that we love to create between food, wine, and people. For our culinary team, connecting begins with collaboration – most notably, collaborating with Dr Julienne Fenwick (MBChB), who specialises in Integrative and Functional Medicine at her Best of Both Wellness practice in Hermanus, and Nicola Cunningham, a Cordon Bleu-trained chef with qualifications in Natural Medicine and Herbalism.
You can read more here, and you can now also watch these short videos of Dr Jules and Chef Nicola chatting about their respective culinary journeys with Creation.
A Celebration of Pinot Noir & Chardonnay
There are only a few places still available for the 2025 Celebration of Pinot Noir & Chardonnay, which will take place at Nidderdale Farm and Bientang’s Cave, Hermanus, on Saturday 25 January 2025, presented by Hemel-en-Aarde Wines.
For the past 10 years, this iconic celebration has been dedicated to showcasing Pinot Noir, a variety that flourishes in the unique terroir of Hemel-en-Aarde. This year, for the first time, the celebration proudly expands to include Chardonnay, solidifying Hemel-en-Aarde’s position as South Africa’s premier wine-growing area for both of these noble varieties.
Join us for an extraordinary one-day event, offering a rare opportunity to experience the very best of Hemel-en-Aarde’s wines, its people, and its breathtaking natural beauty.
Click here for the full itinerary and to secure your place.