Château Fleur Cardinale Saint-Émilion 2016 - Grand Cru Classé
95/100
Decanter
94-96/100
Bettane & Desseauve
94-95/100
Vert de Vin
94/100
James Suckling
94/100
Yves Beck
1*Étoile
Hachette
“The best Fleur Cardinale ever produced, with a rich, enveloping creaminess and great depth: it offers true complexity, a wine that can be enjoyed in its early years and will age beautifully. A lovely, minty freshness on the finish. Best enjoyed before 2037. ” (Bettane & Desseauve Wine Guide 2017) - Delivered in a wooden case for any order of 6 bottles of this wine (excluding Pickup Point delivery).
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Eye
A deep purple color with violet highlights
Nose
A powerful and elegant bouquet of violets, plums, blackberries, chocolate, and licorice
Palate
This wine is rich and complex. It combines depth, character, and elegance with a sensual body and fine tannins.
Serve
At 17-18°C
Drink from
2020
Drink before
2040
Production
100,000 bottles
Food and wine pairings
Pair with a porcini mushroom omelet or a piece of beef à la bordelaise
Bettane & Desseauve
Wine rated (2017 guide) 94-96/100
Rated 3 stars (A high-quality product that serves as a benchmark in its sector)
About the wine:
The finest Fleur Cardinale ever produced, with a rich, enveloping texture and great depth: it offers true complexity, a wine that can be enjoyed in its early years and will age beautifully. A lovely, minty freshness on the finish. Best enjoyed by 2037.
About the estate:
Florence and Dominique Decoster, their son Ludovic, and his wife Caroline have developed a passion for this 23-hectare hillside estate near the town of Castillon. The wines display a rare richness, even in average vintages, and have gained finesse in their tannic structure. It is one of Saint-Émilion’s sure bets, and the new winery is already yielding greater precision and purity. What progress has been made and what efforts have been invested! This estate is on its way to the top.
Decanter
Wine rated (2019 guide) 95/100
About the wine:
Fleshy, fully ripe, and luscious fruit from the very first whiff. Then the Cabernet Franc takes center stage with hints of violets, and once again, the minerality is highlighted by a slate-like texture on the finish that brilliantly balances the fruit’s generous ripeness. Crushed mint, licorice, and dark chocolate also appear on the finish. It’s indulgent and easy to love. It still has a certain austerity at this stage—it needs a few more years to truly soften. These are lovely, enjoyable wines with a unique personality. 100% new oak. Best enjoyed between 2023 and 2044.
Guide Hachette des vins
Wine noted (guide 2020) 1*Star (Very successful wine)
Rated estate (2022 guide) Award-winning wines (This producer’s wines are regularly recognized by the guide)
About the wine:
The nose offers notes of blueberry, blackcurrant, mocha, and cocoa, while the palate is bold from the first sip and full-bodied. The dense tannins and the woody notes still detectable on the finish suggest that this promising wine should be cellared.
About the estate:
In 2001, Dominique and Florence Decoster acquired Château Fleur Cardinale, a 23.5-hectare estate situated on one of the highest points of the AOC, east of Saint-Émilion. Their investments quickly paid off: the wine, which has shown steady improvement, entered the ranks of the “classified” wines in 2006, a classification confirmed in 2012. The estate expanded by 4 hectares in 2011 with the acquisition of the neighboring La Croix Cardinale vineyard. Ludovic Decoster joined the estate in 2015 and serves as the estate manager.
RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France
Rated winery (2022 guide) Winemaker of the Year
About the estate:
The Decoster family (with roots in Limoges porcelain, specifically Haviland) spares no effort in making this estate one of the appellation’s most reliable choices. This beautiful estate, located in the eastern part of Saint-Émilion, north of Saint-Étienne-de-Lisse, benefits from a generous clay terroir that demands patience to achieve a high level of ripeness. The Fleur Cardinale vineyard is located in the latest-ripening sector of the Grand Crus Classés. Under the guidance of Jean-Luc Thunevin, the estate produces wines with a modern, rich, and flattering style, often bordering on overripeness. Expanded by 8 hectares following the 2012 classification, the estate now covers 23.5 hectares. Of these 8 hectares from La Croix Cardinale (a brand the Decosters still produce), 4 hectares contribute to the Fleur Cardinale grand vin.
James Suckling
Wine rated (2019 guide) 94/100
About the wine:
The nose is quite earthy and savory, with the fruit emerging only slowly. On the palate, however, it displays a very appealing fullness and a long, moderately dry finish of real sophistication. It’s easy to drink now, but it will age well.
Yves Beck
Wine rated (2018 guide) 94/100
About the wine:
A dense, deep color with violet hues. The bouquet of the 2016 Fleur Cardinale is complex, delicate, and requires some time to breathe. I detect notes of black berries, tea leaves, a hint of graphite, and a touch of chalk. The oak is present but well integrated with the other elements. On the palate, the wine is equally complex. It combines depth, character, and elegance. The tannins are full-bodied and smooth, while the structure is quite lively. Aromatically, Fleur Cardinale is holding back for now, both on the palate and in the finish, but the combination of elements provides good support, and I detect a healthy tension that defines this wine’s character. 2023–2041
Vert de Vin
Wine rated (2019 guide) 94-95/100 (Jonathan Choukroun Chicheportiche)
About the wine:
The nose is fruity, powerful, and elegant, offering intensity, richness, and a lovely finesse of texture. It features notes of blackcurrant, raspberry, and, more subtly, fleshy black berries (blackberry…) combined with hints of licorice root, green pepper, as well as subtle toasty notes and an imperceptible hint of almond/nutmeg. The palate is fruity, balanced, and offers juiciness, a tangy framework, smoothness, lovely precision and definition, good structure, subtle tension, and a velvety texture. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of fleshy, juicy blackberry and blackcurrant, with a lighter hint of raspberry, combined with touches of strawberry, blueberry, and toast, as well as subtle hints of licorice, hazelnut, almond, and chocolate on the finish. The tannins are elegant, refined, and well-integrated.
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