The wine displays a deep, dense-coloured hue, while on the nose there are powerful ripe fruit aromas mingling with floral notes. Feminine in style, the wines have a seductive, rich mouth-feel, underpinned by elegant, silky tannins. The finish is long and harmonious, promising very long ageing potential in bottle.
Reviews:
- Wine Advocate: The 2014 Fleur Cardinale is located in Saint-Etienne-de-Lisse, the vines populating the lieu-dit of Thibaud. it has a powerful, rich and decadent bouquet bestowed with licorice and boysenberry jam. The palate is medium-bodied with muscular tannin, good depth, fine acidity with a structured and quite spicy finish that replicates the showing from barrel.
- James Suckling: Fantastic aromas of crushed berries, lavender and blueberries. Full-bodied, dense and layered yet always polished and beautiful. Really impressive.
Producer Information
Château Fleur Cardinale is a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé that has been owned by Florence and Dominique Decoster since 2001. The property was promoted to the rank of Grand Cru Classé in 2006, retaining it in 2012. The vineyards extend for 23.5hectares (58 acres) across Saint-Émilion and are planted on soils of clay and limestone. Merlot dominates here and is planted alongside smaller plots of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The estate has the Engagé RSE certification for social responsibility. It has also been implementing the Bordeaux Wines Environmental Management System (based on ISO 14001) since 2013. This addresses energy and water consumption, waste sorting and effluent, recycling, cultivation, pest management and employee health and safety. No chemical weedkillers or insecticides are used. Vines are instead tilled mechanically, and cover crops are used to reduce erosion and avoid soil compaction. No inorganic fertilizers have been used since 2017. Disease controls include talc-based sprays to combat botrytis in wet years.
