By Chateau Fleur Cardinale
2020 Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classe

Vineyard Notes
Natural grass growing between the rows. Organic fertilizers. Winter seedlings. De-budding and green harvesting. Manual one-sided de-leafing. 100% hand-harvested in small crates. First sorting in the vineyard, de-stemming of the bunches, sorting by densimetry, and then a final manual sorting is done. Vat-filling via gravity.

Vineyard Details
Yield: 43 hl/ha
Surface Area: 23.1 hectares
Plant Density: 6,600 to 8,300 vines per hectare
Average Vine Age: 40 years old
Soil: Seven soils and sub-soils, clay and limestone
Harvest Dates: September 17th to October 2nd, 2020

Winemaking Details
Fermentation Vessels: 20 temperature-controlled cylindrical stainless steel vats (56 to 110 hl), 5 temperature-controlled stainless steel wine storage tanks (21 to 52 hl), 10 wood vats of 500 l.
Vatting Time: 28 days
Vinification: Cold maceration, aging on lees
Barrel Aging: 12 to 14 months in new French oak (11 coopers)
Amphora Aging: 12 to 14 months (Merlot and Cabernet Franc) in two 750-liter Tava amphoras
Consulting Oenologist: Jean-Philippe Fort (Rolland Laboratory)

Technical Details
Blend: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon
[Information provided by Beyerman]

Wine: Chateau Fleur Cardinale St.-Emilion 2020
Score/Rating: 96
Suggested Drinking Window: Try after 2026
Review Date: 11/30/2022
Reviewed By: Andrii Stetsiuk, Critic and Tasting Operations Manager
Tasting Notes: Attractive aromas of blueberries and mulberries with graphite, dark licorice and crushed stones. Dark chocolate, too. Full-bodied. Impressive quality to the tannin structure that starts gently and glossy and continues to build, gaining power throughout the palate. Deep and dense with a velvety dark-fruited core. Really long, tense and persistent. 77% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Try after 2026.

Wine: 2020 Chateau Fleur Cardinale (St. Emilion Grand Cru)
Score/Rating: 95
Suggested Drinking Window: Drink from 2024-2045
Review Date: 03/21/2023
Tasting Notes: Deeply colored, the wine struts its chocolate covered, black cherries, plums, licorice, flowers and espresso character with ease. Rich, full, lush and long, the layers of fruit express length, purity, balance and complexity, leaving with a long, supple-textured, fruit-packed finish. As I wrote when tasted in barrel, this is the best Fleur Cardinale I have tasted in a few years. The wine blends 77% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink from 2024-2045.

Wine: 2020 Fleur Cardinale
Score/Rating: 94
Suggested Drinking Window: 2025-2045
Review Date: 03/16/2023
Reviewed By: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Tasting Notes: Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2020 Fleur Cardinale opens a little broody and closed, offering glimpses at graphite, chargrill, black olives, and mossy tree bark scents over a core of baked plums, blackberry preserves, and Indian spices. Medium to full-bodied, the palate reveals a velvety texture with loads of savory nuances coming through among the generous black fruit layers, finishing with great length.

Wine: Chateau Fleur Cardinale, St-Emilion, Grand Cru Classe, Bordeaux 2020
Score/Rating: 94
Suggested Drinking Window: 2024 - 2036
Review Date: 01/31/2023
Reviewed By: Georgina Hindle
Tasting Notes: Supple and utterly charming, with a juicy core, fine tannins and chalky edges. This is quite reserved still, not showing its full width but I love the detail and precision of the elements. Feels sleek and well made, dark and brooding, concentrated and ripe, with liquorice and clove showing the oak but there's a refinement in the texture and overall weight. It's broad shouldered but with a charming core. Clean and confident. It's potent with layers of flavour and texture, but structured and presented very well. Impressive.

Wine: 2020 Fleur Cardinale
Score/Rating: 93-95
Suggested Drinking Window: 2025-2045
Review Date: 05/20/2021
Reviewed By: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Tasting Notes: Composed of 77% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, with [...] 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.

Wine: 2020 Chateau Fleur Cardinale
Score/Rating: 93
Suggested Drinking Window: 2025 - 2040
Review Date: 03/29/2023
Reviewed By: Jeb Dunnuck
Tasting Notes: A solid step up, the Grand Vin 2020 Chateau Fleur Cardinale checks in as 77% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. This [...] estate has been in the Decoster family since 2000 and consists of mostly clay over limestone soils and is located in the Saint-Etienne de Lisse region of Saint-Emilion. From healthy yields of 43 hectoliters per hectare, with malolactic fermentation in tank followed by 13 months in [...] new French oak, it has a juicy, pure, medium to full-bodied style that shows the classic, elegant style of the vintage beautifully. Offering lots of cassis-like fruit, notes of truffly earth, spring flowers, and violets, well-integrated acidity and tannins, and just a beautifully balanced mouthfeel, it's going to benefit from just 2-4 years of bottle age and will evolve nicely through 2040. It's another beautiful wine from this estate.

Wine: 2020 Fleur Cardinale
Score/Rating: 93
Suggested Drinking Window: 2023 - 2035
Review Date: 12/2022
Reviewed By: Antonio Galloni
Tasting Notes: The 2020 Fleur Cardinale is packed with dark fruit, chocolate, new leather, menthol and generous sweet oak. The 2020 has gained in body and complexity with elevage, exactly what is supposed to happen over time. Moreover, the 2020 has plenty of energy to balance its more exuberant leanings.

Wine: Ch Fleur Cardinale 2020 St-Emilion
Score/Rating: 17/20
Suggested Drinking Window: 2025 - 2038
Review Date: 12/19/2022
Reviewed By: James Lawther MW
Tasting Notes: Bright, lifted and fragrant with red-fruit and floral notes. Palate lively and juicy with plenty of drive and persistence. Tannins firm but honed and integrated. Appealing now but should develop further. (JL)