Drops of red and white

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A dirt road leads up to the end of the Hemel-an-Aarde (Heaven and Earth) valley. swissinfo.ch

Creation Wines was founded by Jean-Claude Martin and his Swiss business partner, Christoph Kaser. swissinfo.ch

Heaven and Earth swissinfo.ch

Malbec is one of ten different varieties grown on the estate. swissinfo.ch

Autumn leaves swissinfo.ch

The cellar and the wine tasting room were only built in the last few years. swissinfo.ch

JC, as he is known, left Switzerland for the Cape region in 2004. swissinfo.ch

The producers of the boutique wines aim for an international market. swissinfo.ch

Creation Wines has up to 200 customers a day who come all the way for a wine tasting. swissinfo.ch

The annual output is just 120,000 bottles. swissinfo.ch

Kevin Baatjies, assistant winemaker, keeps the temperature at between 18-20° Celsius. swissinfo.ch

A neighbour drops by for a chat. swissinfo.ch

Sheep used to graze where the vineyards were built. swissinfo.ch

The Red Hot Poker is a sign of winter. The peak at the back sometimes gets a white top. swissinfo.ch

Some 30 families can make a living from the vineyards. The owners believe in manual work. swissinfo.ch

The Hemel-an-Aarde valley is just a few kilometres away from the seaside town of Hermanus. swissinfo.ch

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A Swiss winemaker sets up a new estate in South Africa, looking for an international market for his wares.

Jean-Claude Martin grows ten different wines in a picturesque valley east of Cape Town. (pictures: Christoph Balsiger; text: Urs Geiser, swissinfo.ch)