Citrusdal Mountain. Soldaat is 100% Grenache from a parcel of 55-year-old vines in the highland Piekenierskloof Ward (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. Sadie’s east-facing parcel sits around 780 metres—one of the Cape’s highest elevations—and the soil is decomposed granite. The vines here are unirrigated and still on their own roots.
Eben notes that The Piekenierskloof Pass has firmly positioned itself as the leading location for Cape Grenache, capable of giving vibrant, perfumed wines with lifted red fruit, smoky, spicy notes and earthy minerality. This wine calls to mind the elegant, perfumed Garnachas from Gredos and San Martín de Valdeiglesias in the Madrid highlands, yet with precision and class all its own. And at 13.2% alcohol, it’s entirely different from the heavy, alcoholic wines often associated with Grenache. Crafted from yields of 22 hl/ha, Soldaat ferments and matures in concrete tanks (with 60% whole bunches this year).