Château Fleur Cardinale: Tasting & Drinking
The wines of Château Fleur Cardinale are full and substantial. They seem focused on texture and present a plush style, the fruit dark but velvety and broad. This obvious presence of dark fruit tends to sit within a very modern structure, with great ripeness of tannins as well as a frame built from toasty, chocolate-tinged oak. Vintages which have shown well in recent tastings include 2015, a very successful year for the appellation of course, but 2014 also showed very nicely. Before these two years, it has to be said that there were several less generous vintages, starting with 2013 of course, so it is not surprising that these were leaner years for the vineyard. One of the more convincing vintages before that which I have encountered was 2006, which I tasted with Jean-Luc Thunevin more than a handful of years ago.
Having said that, there is a lot of effort going into improving this estate and its wines, and it appears to be paying off,. very recent vintages including 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2016 have all shown well. This is an estate worth knowing about, and one to watch in future vintages. (17/11/16, updated 10/4/21)
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