2018 Sadie Family Piekenierskloof Soldaat, South Africa

Old Vine Series. 13% alc. Soldaat is 100% Grenache from a parcel of 55-year-old vines in the highland Piekenierskloof region, just shy of the Swartland catchment, going north to Citrusdal. The vineyard got its name from the foot soldiers (piekeniers) who once used this area as a lookout. Hence the name Soldaat (Soldier). Sadie’s easterly facing parcel sits around 780 meters—one of the Cape’s highest elevations—and the soil is decomposed granite. The vines here are unirrigated, and still on their own rootstock. Eben notes that The Piekenierskloof Pass has firmly positioned itself as the leading location for Cape Grenache, with the area capable of giving vibrant, perfumed wines with lifted red fruit and spice as well as an earthy minerality (reminding us of the elegant, perfumed Garnachas from Gredos and San Martín de Valdeiglesias, in the Madrid highlands). Regardless, this is something very different to the heavy, alcoholic wines that are so often a theme with Grenache. Whole-bunch except for 15% to get the fermentation going, Soldaat is fermented (and raised) entirely in concrete. This year the wine shows its high country origins clearly; it’s extremely restrained and bright, with pomegranate and red cherry fruit. The wine’s brightness and purity is underscored with an earthy, inky note that, in time, will develop into forest floor characters.

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Soldaat is a high-altitude Piekenierskloof Grenache from a vineyard on sandstone and decomposed granite at 780 metres. Concrete fermented with 85% whole bunches, this is fresh, earthy and herbal, with delicate tannins, stony intensity and floral, delicate red cherry and redcurrant fruit.