Château Fleur Cardinale 2020

Château Fleur Cardinale is a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé that has been on the rise since the mid 2000s.  The property was purchased in May 2001 by Dominique and Florence Decoster to fulfil their dream of becoming vignerons.  The former business owners who made a name for themselves in the porcelain industry were strangers to the Bordeaux wine scene, but that wasn’t going to deter them from making the best wine possible.  For the Decoster family, owning a property like Château Fleur Cardinale is a serious commitment that they devote themselves to in its entirety.  The results speak for themselves, and the wine of this estate is dynamic, expressive and richly concentrated. 

Château Fleur Cardinale has a history spanning a couple centuries.  The first records of the property date back to 1819, when there were vineyard plots and buildings in a place called Thibeaud, where the current winery exists.  Clearly, the enormous potential of the terroir at Château Fleur Cardinale impressed multiple vignerons. The estate began to produce wine in the 1920s and 1930s under the name of Clos Bel-Air and was owned by the Obessier family.  The property’s current name stems from the names of the two beloved racehorses, “Fleur,” and “Cardinale,” that were purchased by the Obessier family in 1975.  After the horses died, they gave the estate their names to honor their memory.  Once the Decoster family got involved with Château Fleur Cardinale, serious changes were made.  They made the intelligent decision to hire their neighbor and legendary vigneron Jean Luc Thunevin of Château Valandraud to be their consultant.  Just five years after they purchased the estate, it received the high honor of being classified as a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé in 2006. 

Château Fleur Cardinale has the gift of some special terroir.  The property rests on a clay and limestone plateau,  bordering Château Valandraud, a Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Crus Classé B estate.  Château Fleur Cardinale grows Cabernet Sauvignon in addition to the more traditional Right Bank varietals, like Cabernet Franc and Merlot.   In the vineyard, Château Fleur Cardinale uses no chemical weedkillers or insecticides. They use cover crops to reduce erosion and use natural fertilizers.  Château Fleur Cardinale values sustainability and as of 2021 has made a commitment to convert to organic viticulture.  The vines are all harvested and sorted by hand  prior to being vinified in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks.  They are aged mostly in New French Oak barrels, and as of 2020 some percentages of Merlot and Cabernet Franc are aged in amphorae to preserve a mineral driven freshness.

Château Fleur Cardinale is also a property that takes care of its team and the environment as well.  The property has a High Environmental Value Certification because of their commitment to prioritizing biodiversity. But the commitment to ethics is not just in the vineyard.  Château Fleur Cardinale values its team by prioritizing good working conditions for its employees, which is always a bonus.  Without a doubt, this producer is a rising star in Saint-Émilion.

"Composed of 77% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, with an alcohol of 14.5% and a pH of 3.57, the deep purple-black colored 2020 Fleur Cardinale bursts from the glass with powerful notes of crushed blackberries, stewed black plums and Morello cherries, plus suggestions of star anise, pencil shavings and black truffles. The medium to full-bodied palate is chock-full of softly textured, juicy black fruits, countered by fantastic tension, finishing with great length and loads of earthy layers." - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Advocate, Rating: 93-95, Drink: 2025-2045

"I tasted the 2020 Château Fleur Cardinale from three separate bottles, all of which showed brilliantly. Offering lots of red and black fruits as well as dark chocolate and rocky, earthy minerality, it’s a full-bodied, firm yet promising wine with terrific overall balance and length as well as purity of fruit. Short-term cellaring is the name of the game here, but it’s going to shine for at least two decades. It’s well worth seeking out." - Jeb Dunnuck, Rating: 92-94

"A ton of depth and body to this wine, you feel the cool blue fruit of a later-ripening terroir, plenty of tannic grip and bite, curls up with graphite, cigar box, liquorice root and a tiptoe balance of slate and baked earth. Plenty of juicy acidity on the finish, this is precise and elegant with a punch, and continues the run of successful vintages at Fleur Cardinale. A yield of 43hl/ha. 100% new oak. New cellar just finished up at the estate." - Jane Anson, Decanter, Rating: 94

"The 2020 Fleur Cardinale is elegant and refined from the first taste. Bright red berry fruit, spice, blood orange and cedar lend terrific brightness. In 2020 Fleur Cardinale is elegant, polished and restrained. All the elements come together so gracefully. I imagine the 2020 will flesh out a bit over time. Today, it is a bit restrained, but that is not at all a bad thing. A second bottle was even better. The 2020 could very well turn out to be a jewel of a wine." Antonio Galloni, Vinous, Rating: 92-94