Château Fleur Cardinale

The history of Château Fleur Cardinale

In 1819, the land register already showed the presence of vineyard plots. There were also buildings on the site of today's winery, in a place called Thibeaud. According to the archives, it wasn't until the 1920s that Château Fleur Cardinale produced its own cuvées. At that time, it was still called Clos Bel Air and owned by the couple Pierre Sarthou-Moutengou and Jeanne Marie Grué, who came from a large family of winegrowers.

In 1975, Jean-Louis Obissier, son of the mayor of Villerouge Termenes, bought the estate. The story goes that the Obissier family owned two racehorses, 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 full 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 set about restructuring the vineyard, investing in new equipment and building a new winery. This colossal undertaking enabled Château Fleur Cardinale to be promoted to the rank of Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé as early as 2006.

The Château Fleur Cardinale vineyard

The Château Fleur Cardinale vineyard covers 23.5 hectares. It belongs to the commune of Saint Étienne de Lisse, in the eastern part of the Saint Émilion appellation.

The slopes are fairly steep, frequently inclining at 10%. The orientations are quite varied. The terroir encompasses six different types of soil and subsoil.

- Limestone on asteriated limestone
- Limestone on green marl
- Colluvial limestone on sandy loam molasse
- Limestone on sandy loam molasse
- Clay on sandy loam molasse
- Clayey-sandy limestone colluvium

Château Fleur Cardinale's grape varieties are predominantly Merlot (76%), complemented 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.

Château Fleur Cardinale Grand Cru Classé Saint Émilion

Château Fleur Cardinale Grand Cru Classé Saint Émilion has a deep, dense red color. The nose offers a wide range of aromas, filled with ripe fruit alongside floral and spicy flavors.
The palate is generous and perfectly balanced. It is backed by silky tannins. The finish is long and retains all its aromatic potential.
This is a wine for laying down. It can be kept for over 20 years, without losing any of its panache.