‘Mum, I’ve told you since I was 16, I’m not going to marry a winemaker,’ Carolyn Martin, one of the guests on Episode 279 of The Drinking Hour, recalls telling her mother in her early 20s. And yet, when the young designer, who had left the winelands of Stellenbosch to make her career in London, met JC Martin, a talented winemaker from the steep slopes of Switzerland, their connection was instantaneous. They soon married and before too long found themselves in the Western Cape on a ridge whose name in Afrikaans translates to ‘Heaven on Earth’.
The couple share their story of transforming a sheep farm in the heart of the Cape Floral Kingdom into Creation, a ‘wine and wellness’ epicentre, planting virus-free Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Rhône Valley varietals in virgin soil. They also speak of the coastal ‘big fridge’ influence that gives the Hemel-en-Aarde its cool-climate signature.
The discussion turns to community and their role in the Pebbles Project, a non-profit organisation dedicated to ensuring that children and young adults from agricultural communities in the Western Cape have access to education, nutrition and health services. ‘We have the chance here in South Africa to totally transform people’s lives,’ Carolyn tells host David Kermode. Their work gives something back to the local wine community, too: ‘we’re creating the sommeliers of the future that are able to go and tell the world about the amazing wines of South Africa.’
Discover more episodes of The Drinking Hour with David Kermode here.
