Château Fleur Cardinale

The history of Château Fleur Cardinale

In 1819, the land register already attests to the presence of parcels of vines. There are also buildings located at the place of the current winery, on the place called Thibeaud. According to the archives, it was not until the 1920s that Château Fleur Cardinale produced its own vintages. At that time, it was still called Clos Bel Air and belonged to the couple Pierre Sarthou-Moutengou and Jeanne Marie Grué, who came from a large family of winemakers.

In 1975, Jean-Louis Obissier, the son of the mayor of Villerouge Termenes, bought the estate. The story goes that the Obissier family owned two race horses named Fleur and Cardinale. After the death of his horses, the new owner decided to pay tribute to them by renaming his estate Château Fleur Cardinale.

In 2001, Dominique and Florence Decoster bought Château Fleur Cardinale from the Asséo family who had acquired it in 1982. Dominique had sold his Limoges porcelain business and decided to make a total conversion to viticulture. The couple settled on the property with their three children, Ludovic, Matthieu and Lucie.

As soon as they arrived, the Deocster couple undertook to restructure the vineyard, invest in new equipment and build a new cellar. This colossal work allowed the wine of Château Fleur Cardinale to be promoted to the rank of Grand Cru Classé of Saint-Émilion in 2006.

The Château Fleur Cardinale vineyard

The vineyard of Château Fleur Cardinale covers 23.5 hectares. It belongs to the commune of Saint Etienne de Lisse which is located in the eastern part of the Saint Emilion appellation.

The slopes are rather steep, with a frequent 10% slope. The orientations are quite varied. The terroir includes six different types of soil and subsoil.

- Limestone on asteriated limestone
- Limestone on green marl
- Colluvial limestone on sandy loam
- Limestone on sandy loam
- Clay on sandy loam
- Limestone-clay-sand colluvium

The Château Fleur Cardinale grape varieties are mainly composed of Merlot (76%), completed by Cabernet Franc (20%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (4%).

The wines of Château Fleur Cardinale

Château Fleur Cardinale offers 3 red wines: Château Fleur Cardinale Grand Cru Classé Saint Émilion, Intuition de Fleur Cardinale Saint Émilion Grand Cru and Château Croix Cardinale Saint Émilion Grand Cru.

Chateau Fleur Cardinale Grand Cru Classé Saint Émilion

The Château Fleur Cardinale Grand Cru Classé Saint Émilion has a deep and dense red color. Its nose offers a very broad aromatic palette, filled with ripe fruits that rub shoulders with floral and spicy flavors.
The mouth is generous and perfectly balanced. It is backed by silky tannins. The finish is long and keeps all its aromatic potential.
This is a wine for long term cellaring. It can be kept for more than 20 years, without losing any of its panache.