2024 Sadie Family Piekenierskloof Soldaat Grenache

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.

Other Reviews....
Sliced strawberries, pomegranates, rose hips, orange rind and wet stones on the nose of this supremely elegant, fragrant red. Sour cherries, too. It’s medium-bodied, very fresh and silky, with very fine tannins, seamless but present. Persistent and salty at the end. Great expression of grenache. Fermented and aged in concrete. Drink or hold.
97 points
Claire Nesbitt - JamesSuckling.com

The 2024 Soldaat is Sadie's Grenache cuvée with slightly higher alcohol compared to previous vintages, fermented and aged in concrete. That comes across on the nose, which is more generous, a little higher-toned than the '23. Plush red cherries and cranberry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with a tart entry, red cherries, pomegranate and crushed strawberry with gentle grip on the finish. A lovely Soldaat that will give 12 to 15 years' drinking pleasure. Drink 2025-2038.
92 points
Neal Martin - Vinous