The 2016 Fleur Cardinale is a Bordeaux blend from Saint Emilion, France, crafted by the producer Fleur Cardinale. This red wine, sealed with a cork and with an alcohol content of 14.5%, has garnered significant attention from wine critics for its rich and complex profile.
Jeff Leve from TheWineCellarInsider.com awarded this wine a score of 94, noting its deep color and round, luscious textures. He describes it as "concentrated, with waves of licorice, smoke, dark chocolate, black cherries, and espresso." Leve emphasizes the wine’s rich and juicy nature, concluding with "a blast of opulent chocolate-covered plums, coffee bean, and black cherry."
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, represented by Lisa Perrotti-Brown, also praised the 2016 Fleur Cardinale, giving it a score of 93. She highlighted its "medium to deep garnet-purple color" and aromatic profile bursting with "crushed blackberries, mulberries, and chocolate-covered cherries." Perrotti-Brown found the palate to be "medium to full-bodied and wonderfully elegant with soft, rounded tannins and a great backbone of freshness."
James Suckling rated the wine 94 and described it as "quite earthy and savory on the nose," with a "very attractive fleshy quality" on the palate. He remarked on its "moderately dry, long finish of some real sophistication," noting that it is "easy to drink now, but will hold."
Jeb Dunnuck gave the highest score of 95, praising its "stunning nose of smoked black fruits, classy oak, violets, and camphor." Dunnuck found the wine to be "full-bodied" with "beautiful purity, ripe, present, polished tannins, and a great finish."
Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator both rated it 92, with the former noting its "dense and full of dark fruits" and "solid structure and big tannins," while the latter highlighted its "good brambly energy" and "mix of cassis, bitter cherry, and plum puree flavors."
Decanter's review, also scoring the wine 92, mentioned its "bitter chocolate, fresh menthol notes and rich, tight tannins," and its "silky texture." Finally, Jane Anson awarded it 96, calling it a "muscular, beautiful and profound wine" with flavors of "olive tapenade, tar, smoked earth, and tons of licorice."
Overall, the 2016 Fleur Cardinale stands out as an elegant and complex Bordeaux blend, rich in flavors and praised for its structure and potential for aging.