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Why Creation Chardonnay? Four expressions, one place.

This month, to celebrate International Chardonnay Day on 21 May 2026, Creation Wines presents a four-bottle press box showcasing the breadth, precision and provenance of its Chardonnay story.

The selection brings together four distinct Creation expressions: Estate Chardonnay, Ridge Chardonnay, Art of Chardonnay and Glenn’s Chardonnay. Each wine offers a different lens on the same place: the cool, elevated, ocean-influenced Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, where ancient soils, maritime air and careful farming shape Chardonnays of freshness, texture and definition.

Where the story begins

The Creation Estate Chardonnay is the welcoming introduction to the range. Often described as Creation’s ‘handshake’, it is the wine that greets guests in the tasting room, appears on restaurant lists, and introduces many wine lovers to what cool-climate Chardonnay from this corner of the Cape can achieve.

The Estate Chardonnay reflects the valley’s natural advantages: cool ocean air from Walker Bay, ancient soils, elevation, and slow, even ripening conditions. In the glass, it offers green apple and citrus brightness, layered with texture and subtle oak spice. It is approachable, honest and expressive, the foundation wine in Creation’s Chardonnay family.

The architecture of the Ridge

The Ridge Chardonnay takes the story deeper into the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge itself. Grown on high-lying vineyard sites shaped by Bokkeveld shale, sandstone and quartz soils, and cooled by maritime breezes, this wine captures the structure and detail of its origin.

It is a Chardonnay for those who want to understand not only that the wine is good, but why it tastes the way it does. Energy, length and definition are central to its character, supported by Creation’s regenerative approach to farming and long-term commitment to biodiversity, soil health and people.

The pinnacle expression

The Art of Chardonnay is Creation’s flagship Chardonnay: a small-pocket, single-vineyard wine from Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge. Hand-harvested, whole-bunch pressed and matured in carefully judged French oak, it is crafted to express precision, restraint and longevity.

The 2024 vintage shows citrus and white stone fruit, subtle oatmeal and almond from lees contact, and a saline, mineral finish that speaks clearly of its origin. With its individually numbered bottles and limited production, The Art of Chardonnay is both a collector’s wine and a refined expression of Creation’s cool-climate Chardonnay philosophy.

A father-son wine

Glenn’s Chardonnay is a deeply personal wine created by Jean-Claude Martin with his son, Glenn. Sourced from the same exceptional block as the Art of Chardonnay, it is distinguished by its exclusive use of wild yeast fermentation, allowing the vineyard’s own microbial life to shape a more savoury, textured and site-responsive expression.

Hand-harvested, whole-bunch pressed, fermented in French oak, and bottled without fining or filtration, Glenn’s Chardonnay reflects both family legacy and the next generation of winemaking at Creation. It combines texture, mineral freshness and quiet power, with production kept deliberately small.

Four wines, one invitation

Together, the four-bottle press box tells the Creation Chardonnay story from welcome to pinnacle: Estate, Ridge, Art and Glenn’s. It is an invitation to taste how Chardonnay can reflect place, farming, family and time.

The Chardonnay box offers a focused way to experience the full arc of Creation Chardonnay: the Estate Chardonnay as the accessible beginning, the Ridge Chardonnay as the architectural expression of place, the Art of Chardonnay as the pinnacle single-vineyard release, and Glenn’s Chardonnay as a personal father-son interpretation from the same exceptional site.

Retail prices per bottle: Creation Estate Chardonnay is listed at R285, Ridge Chardonnay at R420, Art of Chardonnay at R1010 and Glenn’s Chardonnay at R1010 per bottle in Creation’s 2026 retail price list.

The wines are available through the Creation Wines online shop.