Of all the tables in the Cape, this is the one closest to home for me. When guests are with us in Hermanus, I like to take them up the valley to Creation for lunch.
The road climbs out of Hermanus through the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, which means heaven and earth, and keeps going until the vines open out on the high ridge at the top. Creation is a family farm, owned by JC and Carolyn Martin, and it has become one of the most admired wine estates anywhere. The cool sea air off Walker Bay is what makes their Chardonnay and Pinot Noir so fresh, and it is why the lunch here is built around the wine rather than the other way round.
What I love most is how it treats everyone at the table. If you do not drink, there is a tea pairing made with as much care as the wine. If you have children with you, they get a tasting of their own. Nobody sits it out.
John Sparks
Lunch, one wine at a time
Lunch at Creation is a food and wine pairing, served in the tasting room with the whole valley at the window. The current menu has six courses, each one cooked around one of the estate's wines and brought to the table by a host who tells you what is in the glass and why. The kitchen changes the menu with the seasons, four times a year. It is free of gluten, added sugar and dairy, and there is a plant-based version, so most dietary needs are looked after without any fuss.
Something for each of you
The wine pairing
The heart of it
Six courses, six wines, and plenty of time. This is the one I book for most of our guests.
The tea pairing
For those who don't drink
Eight teas, each with a small bite, made with just as much thought as the wine.
The children's pairing
Ages five to twelve
Juices and snacks served the same way as the grown-ups' wines, so the children are part of the lunch.
There is also a brunch pairing in the mornings that opens with a glass of their sparkling wine, a wine and chocolate pairing, and simple tastings in the afternoon for those who would rather keep it short.
Sculpture among the vines
Since July 2026 the estate has been home to an exhibition by Anton Smit, one of South Africa's best-known sculptors. Great figures stand out among the vines and by the dams, and faces look out from the fynbos garden and the restaurant. Walk through the garden before or after lunch. If you would like, I can arrange a guided walk through the exhibition.
Two short films from my visit
Watch on YouTube ↗
Watch on YouTube ↗
More photographs, to look through
Thirty-two photographs of the ridge, the sculptures and the table, and both films. View them large and download any you like.
Open the gallery ↗A long lunch on the ridge, with the whole valley at the window.
Before you go
Where
High on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, about twenty-five minutes' drive up the valley from Hermanus and an hour and a half from Cape Town.
Booking
Every experience at Creation is booked ahead, and lunch fills up. We reserve your table when we plan your days in Hermanus, so there is nothing for you to arrange.
Allow time
The pairing lunch is unhurried. Give it most of an afternoon, with a walk through the garden afterwards.
Staying over
Voormanshuis, a small solar-powered cottage on the farm, sleeps a few guests who then have the estate to themselves after the last visitors leave.
Pairs well with
A stay at The Marine or Harbour House, the whales of Walker Bay, and Moya's Vineyard further along the same valley.