Château Fleur Cardinale St Emilion Grand Cru Grand Cru Classé 2017

A rare chance to taste this wine, as there are only 140 bottles left at the estate after a savage frost that affected 97% of the vineyard, save a sliver of clay soils around the main château. Inevitably this means an unusual blend, with more Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon than in most vintages. The Cabernet dominance comes through in the floral, slightly austere character of the aromatics and tannins. It’s a brilliant wine, although more savoury in character than a usual Fleur Cardinale, with pure cassis, damson, rosebud, rose petals, a touch of bracken. The overall structure has relaxed since I last tasted in En Primeur, and the soft smoke notes curl around the fruit, adding complexity. 100% integral vinification in 500l new oak vats, then moved into one year old barrels for ageing. This was the first vintage Ludovic Decoster made as techincal director, and he said he has found it hard to taste ever since, because it brings back the feelings of the morning after the frost and seeing the devasation that had been wrought. Only 1,000 magnums were bottled – each one a moving reminder than wine is a time capsule of a vintage.