The results of the World’s Best Vineyards (WBV) ratings have just been announced at a special live event in Rioja, Spain. Spectacularly placed Creation Wines has, for the fourth consecutive year, been placed among the world’s top 50 vineyards and joins a prestigious line-up of the top five: Catena Wines, Argentina; Bodegas de los Herederos del Marqués de Riscal, Spain; VIK, Chile; Creation Wines, South Africa and Château Smith Haut Lafitte, France. This is the fourth time that Creation has been listed as the number one estate in South Africa and on the African continent.
The World’s Best Vineyards is an annual listing that highlights the best winery destinations and experiences in the world. The prestigious list spans five continents and is created after the nominations of some 500 wine, travel and wine tourism experts have been counted and collated. Voters are asked to nominate the overall experiences they consider to be the best in the world and that they personally would recommend.
Spectacular setting
The owners, Jean-Claude Martin and his wife Carolyn, scion of the famous Finlayson wine family, have wrought a miracle. Their little piece of Heaven and Earth was 40 hectares of unspoilt land when they bought it in 2002, and had never been planted to vines. The two of them, who come from pioneering wine families, he at his home in Switzerland, and she in SA, set about with determination and hard work to make it what it is today—internationally renowned and awarded for the superb wines they make.
JC Martin and wife Carolyn
Surveying the verdant rolling hills covered in vines is humbling—and inspiring. Jean-Claude says “The best part of my job is walking in the vineyards in the early morning to check the quality and development of the grapes. And then of course the excitement of the harvest; I am there for the picking of each precious bunch!”
Carolyn and son Glenn -4th generation winemaker
A visit here, with its combination of great wines, excellent food and magnificent views is something the visitor will never forget. Their wines range from prize winning Chardonnays, through magnificent Pinot Noirs to unintimidating delicious quaffers.