Château Fleur Cardinale

The château

Fleur Cardinale is at Saint-Étienne-de-Lisse, on a limestone plateau on the eastern side of Saint-Émilion, and its modern history is the Decoster family’s. Dominique and Florence Decoster bought it in 2001, and 5 years later it was one of 6 estates promoted to Grand Cru Classé, having been in no Saint-Émilion classification before. The courts annulled that list in 2008, but the law of 2009 protected the estates promoted in 2006, so the rank held; the lists of 2012 and September 2022 confirmed it. In 2011 the family added Château Croix Cardinale, on the opposite slope of the same plateau. Their eldest son Ludovic and his wife Caroline took over the running of both in 2017, Ludivine Chagnon became technical director in September 2023, and in 2024 the 2 estates were gathered under one name, La Maison Cardinale, with 70 parcels between them.

The planting is Merlot, with Cabernet Franc and a little Cabernet Sauvignon. The environmental record came step by step: the first environmental management system for Bordeaux wine certified ISO 14001, joined in 2013; Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms) in 2017; the AFNOR corporate responsibility label in 2021, renewed in 2024; the Bee Friendly label in 2022. The cellar for the first wine was rebuilt from end to end in 2019 and a second cellar followed in 2024. Fermentation is in double-walled stainless steel vats the full height of the room, each held at its own temperature. What sets the house apart is the aging, chosen lot by lot among barrels, demi-muids of 500 and 600 liters, foudres of 20 to 30 hectoliters and terracotta amphorae of 7.5 hectoliters. Château Fleur Cardinale runs to about 105,000 bottles a year and Intuition de Fleur Cardinale to about 15,000; under the Bordeaux appellation the family also makes a white from Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Sémillon.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Terroir of Saint-Émilion →

Commune

Saint-Étienne-de-Lisse, on a limestone plateau

Classification

Grand Cru Classé from 2006, kept by the law of 2009; confirmed in 2012 and 2022

Owners

The Decoster family, since 2001

Direction

Ludovic and Caroline Decoster, since 2017; Ludivine Chagnon, technical director, since September 2023

Vineyard

70 parcels across Fleur Cardinale and Croix Cardinale

Grapes

Merlot, with Cabernet Franc and a little Cabernet Sauvignon; Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Sémillon for the white

Farming

ISO 14001 from 2013; Haute Valeur Environnementale from 2017; AFNOR label, 2021 and 2024; Bee Friendly from 2022

Cellar

Rebuilt in 2019, a second cellar in 2024; double-walled steel vats; barrels, demi-muids of 500 and 600 liters, foudres of 20 to 30 hectoliters, amphorae of 7.5 hectoliters

Production

About 105,000 bottles of the first wine and 15,000 of the second

Wines

Château Fleur Cardinale; Intuition de Fleur Cardinale; Fleur Cardinale Blanc, Bordeaux, and its second wine

The other estate

Château Croix Cardinale, bought in 2011; both under the name La Maison Cardinale since 2024