This delivers the textbook panoply of blueberry, plum and blackberry fruit of the appellation, with a lush, creamy mouthfeel and a long licorice- and sweet toast-filled finish. Along with the suave fruit, there’s latent grip that should mellow nicely with midterm cellaring. Best from 2013 through 2023.
93 Points, Wine Spectator (2012)
While the 2009 La Fleur Cardinale is an outstanding wine, do not expect it to ever achieve the greatness of the 2005. Yields were a tiny 30 hectoliters per hectare, the wine is composed of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the alcohol level is 14.5%. Some rugged tannins are noticeable, but they should age out with 3-4 years of cellaring. The wine is concentrated, pure, impressively perfumed, and long, but the tannins are astringent at present, giving it a dry, raspy element in the finish. (Tasted four times.)
90-92 Points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Apr 2010)
(a blend of 70% merlot, 20% cabernet franc and 10% cabernet sauvignon; 14.5% alcohol) Deep, almost inky ruby. Captivating, highly aromatic nose of red cherry, cola and cinnamon. Then fresh and minerally in the mouth, with superripe red cherry, cola, incense and cinnamon flavors joined by minerals and redcurrant jelly on the long, youthfully tannic finish. A wine of deceptive concentration that seems almost too easy to drink today.
89-92 Points, Ian D'Agata for Stephen Tanzer's Int'l Cellar (May 2010)
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