Art of Pinot Noir, Creation Wines 2024
James Suckling 94
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Why this wine
Pinot Noir rarely works far from Burgundy, and the cold Atlantic air funnelling into the Hemel-en-Aarde is one of the few places in the southern hemisphere where it reliably does. This is Creation's flagship red, 60% whole-bunch and fermented in foudre. Savoury and earthy rather than jammy.
At a glance
- Grape
- Pinot Noir
- Region
- Walker Bay, South Africa
- Alcohol
- 13.00%
- Body
- Medium
- Acidity
- High
- Tannins
- Medium
- Sweetness
- Dry
- Drink
- Medium (5-10 yrs)
- Pairs with
- Poultry & Pork, Red Meat, Cheese
How it tastes
Cherry and plum in opulent layers, with an earthy note of mushroom and an elegant sprinkling of spice. The texture is velvety and the frame medium-weight, with bright acidity and soft, fine tannins. Pinot Noir 100%.
The producer
Swiss-born winemaker Jean-Claude Martin and his South African wife Carolyn founded Creation in 2002 on the cool-climate Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge of Walker Bay, and the estate took seventh place in the Top 100 of the World's Best Vineyards Awards 2025. The Pinot Noir comes from a small pocket within a single vineyard at around 287 metres, clone 115 on R110 rootstocks with an average vine age of 21 years, the rows running north to south across flat ground and north- and east-facing pockets on clay and loam weathered from 450-million-year-old Bokkeveld shale, cooled by south-easterly breezes off the Benguela current. Hand-picked during the cool of the morning, 60% of the fruit was vinified as whole bunches and fermented spontaneously in large foudres, then matured for twelve months in 33% new and 67% second-fill French oak from carefully selected barrels, in limited quantity. Flowering was good with only a little wind, rain in late October and early November replenished the soil before heatwaves in December and January that canopy management kept in check, and although 200mm of rain fell at harvest the grapes came in healthy.
Food and drinking
Serve at 14-16°C. Try it with duck breast, slow-roast pork, mushroom risotto or a washed-rind cheese. Drinking well now and over five to ten years; a short decant opens it up. Sealed with a DIAM cork. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.