Hermanus and The Artisanal Story of Creation
Creation Wines...just one of the many reasons to visit the breath-taking coastal town of Hermanus
I recently won a voucher that entitled myself and a guest to stay at the Windsor Hotel in Hermanus for two nights. Having won the voucher around Mother’s Day time, I figured, what better way to spoil my amazing mom than to take her away to explore the beautiful Hemel-en-Aarde valley! We settled on a date, and on Wednesday the 6th June 2018 we did a lastminute.com pack, threw some necessities along with random gear (like a backgammon set) into the car and left the house at 5:50am sharp.
Oh my gosh but even the road to get there was a treat! We popped into Peregrine Farmstall for a standard coffee and a snack, but once we had our caffeine fix – my mom, being one for adventure and discovery – took a right turn onto a dirt jeeptrack and we rolled along through the stunning Elgin vineyards and up along the Elgin mountain range. What a sight for sore eyes! We absolutely had to stop and take it all in...
It was amazing to cruise up to the coastal town with ZERO time pressure. Stopping wherever and however often we wanted. But we made sure to get to the Hemel-en-Aarde with enough daylight to sit and enjoy a relaxing wine tasting at one of the many incredible wine farms.
We passed some stunning farms along the way – and we were definitely tempted to stop in at one or two – but my mom had said from the start that if there is one thing we absolutely must do, it's the Chapter-by-Chapter food and wine pairing at Creation Wines. And as this weekend was a Mother's Day gift, Creation it was, AND I AM SO GLAD! Driving into the estate, we were even slow to get into the tasting room because we were so taken by the view.
We arrived a little earlier than our booking, but that wasn’t a problem at all, and we were kindly shown to our chariots where we would hold onto our seats for the next 3 hours of food and wine heaven. Not a minute had passed after we had settled in before we were greeted warmly by the hostess, our waitress Pamela, and the manager. They informed us that we were going to be one of the first customers to indulge in their new Artisanal Pairing menu that tells the story of Creation. Our glasses were topped up with a deliciously light and crisp Creation Rosé and we were handed the menu to get a better understanding of what we were getting ourselves into...and then we were underway.
The Rosé was accompanied by, wait-for-it...Pinot Noir-flavoured “Rock Rolls” – which were intended to resemble the untouched earth that existed prior to Creation breaking ground (the resemblance was uncanny!) And the black things that you see with them is not droerwors! Those were the surprisingly DELICIOUS charcoal breadsticks all paired with 3 stunning dips: beetroot-flavoured cream cheese, cream cheese with Pinot Noir salt and garlic and herb butter. The breads and dips were absolutely delicious it was a real test of self control not to fill up on them.
Creation had set the bar pretty high from the get go.
So next we were introduced to the Sensorial Tasting which consisted of the tropical Sauvignon Blanc 2017 which was to be tasted with a dash of ground, dehydrated pineapple. Not normally a Sauvignon fan (I am big into my heavy reds!) I quite enjoyed this one – especially how the flavour changed when I had a taste of the dehydrated pineapple and then sipped on the wine again. We were then told by Pamela to take a whiff of the passionfruit that was beautifully presented to us. Apparently smelling the passionfruit prior to tucking into our first course was a way to prepare our palates for what was to come…
To be honest, when the next two wines and plate of food was presented to me I forgot all about the passionsfruit I had smelled just moments before. The dish – representing "Chapter 1: What's in a Name?" was simply stunning. Paired with the Creation Sauvignon/Semillion blend (not my favourite) and Delicious Viognier 2017 was an amazing artwork of octopus, creamy sweetcorn puree wrapped in charcoal (batter, activated charcoal and sparkling water), green peas, pickled onion and sweetcorn. Gosh I almost didn’t want to touch it for fear of ruining the picture-perfect presentation. But I am so gad I did, it ended up being my favourite dish! The creamy puree with the charcoal coating was so intriguing and the burnt-ish flavour really brought out the sweetness of the corn, YUM!
We spent a while savouring the flavours, but we also knew there was a lot more in store. Being a big fish fan, I was looking forward to "Chapter 2: Enhancing the Beauty of Nature". Our wine was the Chardonnay 2017, which we got to compare to the estate’s other Chardonnay (I enjoyed that one more), and the food that accompanied the wine was salmon trout, avo, coconut cream, hints of vanilla, citrus and nuri. If I am honest, this was my least favourite dish. There was something I didn't enjoy about the flavour combinations but the Chardonnay made up for it! I quickly forgot about the disappointing salmon once Pamela had turned the page and introduced us to the next chapter: "Chapter 3: Down Paradise Road".
The award-winning Pinot Noir 2016 was our wine of the day – light and easy drinking – and it paired beautifully with the beetroot, lemon coconut yoghurt, chervil, rye crete and raspberry powder soup, which we chose above the tuna because it was “something a little different”. Honestly, I am not normally very good at identifying flavours that bring out other flavours which somehow make you pick up other flavours, BUT the earthiness of the beetroot combined with the sour lemon really made the Pinot Noir sing! What a sensation! It got me excited for the next chapter…
"Chapter 4: Proud Custodians of Nature" was another chapter I was really looking forward to - more for the wine than the food - as I am a huge Cab Sav fan! I was dying to try the Creation 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot-style blend. When Pamela poured the wine I had to physically stop myself from drooling it looked that good. She saw my eyes double in size at the rich, deep colour that had settled in my glass, gave me a little smile and topped me up with just a touch more...my kind of girl! After just one heavenly sip, I looked down and our next course had been placed in front of us: a beautifully put together dish of veal, salty parmesan, cauliflower and dukkah crumb, and potato puree. Oh my gosh but the crumb! It really brought the wine to life!
The dish was well-balanced, flavoursome and textile, but I really appreciated the creativity. The yellow-coloured shard you can see on top of the veal is potato skin! I mean, gosh, how creative can you actually get!? But still, the crumb on the bottom was my favourite element for sure...I had to actually physically stop myself from licking it off the plate...
Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, we took a look at what was still to come and saw that "Chapter 5: What Grows Together Goes Together" brought with it the Syrah/Grenache 2016 paired with the beef fillet, ratatouille, sweet potato, socca and micro leaves. To be honest, the pairing sounded a lot more perfect than it tasted together, but pairing aside, the food was DELICIOUS. The sweet potato puree was a perfect marriage with the fillet and the sauce that drizzled around it. So velvety, smooth and creamy my mouth is watering just recounting the experience. And a bonus, the gorgeous Pamela saw that I had polished off my Syrah (good red wines bring that out of me), so she topped me up once again with a wink and a smile, saying “You need a little extra to get the full experience”. I wasn't about to argue!
Stuffed from the first 5 courses, and ready for a little sweet relief, the small – but satisfying – "Chapter 6: An Ode to Mother Earth" was very welcome and just what we felt like. Our glasses were once again topped up, but this time with the Reserve Merlot 2015 from the block situated right in front of where we were tasting (next to their famous Pinot Noir vineyards). While the flavour of the wine was quite sharp on its own, it was softened perfectly by the coffee-flavoured sweetie with blackberry dust, hazelnut tuille, blueberry flours and thyme finished off with a relatively salty-ish biscuit.
The perfect happy ending to a beautiful story...
Not ready to leave just yet, we wandered around the tasting room admiring all the art that adorned the walls as well as the view of the mountains and the vineyards from the balcony. The Hemel-en-Aarde valley truly is a breath-taking place. But, as in life, all good things must eventually come to an end, so we made a move towards the exit - thus concluding our Creation food and wine pairing extravaganza, And what an incredible experience it was! The food, the wine, the view, but I have to make a special mention to Pamela and the staff. Their service was outstanding. Everyone involved in our pairing experience was super efficient, incredibly knowledgeable (my mom asks a lot of questions and not once was there an "I don't know") and served us with a warm, genuine smile. What a pleasure!
I highly recommend the new Creation pairing, and if you have someone special to spoil then this is the right place to take them...We will definitely be back to try some of their other tasting options soon!
