Creation Wines Art of Chardonnay 2024
£57.25
The wine
An elegantly refined Chardonnay with a pristine, cool palate layered with hints of smokiness, vibrant acidity and a powerful saline character. The Art of range is drawn from the very best barrels of the vintage.
The Art of range is chosen barrel by barrel after fermentation rather than farmed separately, so it represents the finest lots of the vintage as they actually turn out. Applied to Chardonnay in a site this cool, the result is a wine of real tension: concentrated but taut, and built to develop for a decade.
The producer
Creation Wines
View all Creation Wines winesCreation Wines sits high on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge above Walker Bay, founded by Swiss-born winemaker Jean-Claude Martin and his South African wife Carolyn, whose family have made wine for generations. Hemel-en-Aarde means heaven and earth, which the setting rather justifies.
The valley is South Africa's most convincing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay country, and the reasons are specific. It opens directly onto the Atlantic a few kilometres away, so cool sea air moves up it every afternoon, and the soils are weathered Bokkeveld shale, ancient, acidic and low in vigour. Vines struggle there in exactly the way Burgundian varieties require, ripening slowly and keeping their acidity.
The estate has become one of the most decorated in the Cape and is as well known for hospitality as for the wines, with food and wine pairing that has drawn international attention. The Art of range represents the finest barrels of each vintage, selected after the fact rather than farmed separately.






