Château Fleur Cardinale - Intergalactic Collector's Edition - Magnum 2020
In Saint-Émilion, Château Fleur Cardinale celebrates with its 2020 vintage a symbolic moment in its history through the Intergalactic Collector's Edition, imagined for the twentieth anniversary of the Decoster family at the head of the estate. Located on the heights of Saint-Étienne-de-Lisse, the estate has a mainly clay-limestone vineyard, composed of a mosaic of plots whose soil nuances and exposures nurture the personality of the great wine. Since its acquisition by Florence and Dominique Decoster in 2001, Fleur Cardinale has undergone a considerable transformation, crowned by its promotion to the rank of Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé. The year 2020 also marks an important technical milestone as the vintage is entirely vinified in the estate's new cellars. To dress this anniversary year, the traditional knight of the coat of arms symbolically leaves Saint-Émilion to become an astronaut, surrounded by iconography of rockets, planets, and constellations. This extremely limited edition was produced in only 2,000 magnums, each presented in a specially screen-printed wooden box integrating phosphorescent elements. The signs of Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra present on the box pay tribute to the members of the Decoster family, making this presentation a true collector's piece within the series of special editions of Fleur Cardinale.
The 2020 vintage blends 77% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, a composition that perfectly reflects the personality of the estate's terroirs. Merlot brings depth, flesh, and intensity of black fruits, while Cabernet Franc introduces floral freshness, additional tension, and a particularly interesting spicy dimension. The minority Cabernet Sauvignon consolidates the structure and extends the wine's persistence. The harvest is done manually and the different lots are worked with precision before aging for about thirteen months, mostly in new French oak barrels. The generous material of the vintage is thus framed by a precise tannic structure, while the limestone soils bring freshness that avoids any sensation of heaviness. With about 14.5% alcohol, the 2020 has significant concentration but remains animated by remarkable tension and a mineral finish. The magnum here is much more than an aesthetic element: its slower evolution favors the preservation of fruit and further increases the interest of this edition intended for long aging.
The color is deep, almost purple in its youth, immediately announcing the concentration of the vintage. The bouquet develops blackberry, blackcurrant, and black cherry, joined by violet, licorice, graphite, and fine spicy nuances. Aeration gradually reveals dark chocolate, aromatic herbs, truffle, and a stony tone that recalls the limestone origin of the terroir. The palate combines dense and velvety material with fine but still structuring tannins, giving the wine a remarkable sensation of depth. The black fruit remains juicy and precise, while the Cabernet Franc brings drive and maintains persistent freshness until the finish. A few additional years will allow the wood to integrate further and reveal nuances of tobacco, undergrowth, and more complex spices. Beyond its qualities as a great Saint-Émilion, this 2020 Intergalactic Magnum has a unique heritage dimension: limited edition of 2,000 copies, exclusive phosphorescent packaging, anniversary vintage, and first wine entirely made in the new cellars bring together several elements that make it one of the most atypical and collectible modern editions of Fleur Cardinale.
Grape varieties: 77% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
