Living the 'culture' in agriculture

Creation Wines has won numerous awards, was ranked fourth in the World’s Best Vineyards in 2023, and more recently won the V d’Or award for the Best Brand Experience. The owners, Carolyn and Jean-Claude Martin, spoke to Glenneis Kriel about how their winery became a top tourism destination.

- Glenneis Kriel

When Carolyn and Jean-Claude ‘JC’ Martin bought a sheep farm near Walker Bay on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge in 2002,

there was little to indicate they would be able to turn it into what would become one of South Africa’s finest wineries, Creation Wines.

“The Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge was new to winemaking at the time, leaving us with little information to benchmark the farm’s potential. All we had to go on was that the neighbouring farmer produced apples for export, and climates that favour apple colouration are good for wine production,” says JC.

It also helped that both are from wine pioneering families. Swiss-born JC’s grandfather, Jules Martin, established a family winery on the banks of Lake Bienne in Switzerland in 1935, while Carolyn’s grandfather, Maurice Finlayson, bought Hartenberg in Stellenbosch in 1947.

Her father, Walter Finlayson, was the winemaker at Hartenberg from 1965 and Blaauwklippen Wine Estate from 1975.

Walter bought Glen Carlou Wine Estate in 1983 and was one of the eight founding members of the Cape Winemakers’ Guild in 1982.

The husband-and-wife team were farming at Grillette in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, when Carolyn’s uncle, Peter Finlayson, convinced them to buy the farm in Hemel-en-Aarde.

Finlayson had set up the region’s first winery and vineyards at Hamilton Russell in 1979, and started the boutique winery Bouchard Finlayson with Burgundy winemaker Paul Bouchard in 1989.

“Our initial idea was to farm in Switzerland and South Africa, but after planting the first 30ha in South Africa, it became too difficult to juggle two farms,” says JC.

“We decided to focus all our attention on the South African farm because it presented the most potential.