Chateau Fleur Cardinale 2005

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "This beautiful wine from Fleur Cardinale performed great in its youth, both from barrel as well as post-bottling. A gorgeous blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon made by the Decoster family, the 2005 provides more evidence that this property is fully exploiting its tremendous potential. A few years away from reaching its plateau of maturity, its stunning nose of black cherry liqueur, cassis, licorice, earth and spice is followed by a full-bodied, concentrated and pure wine. Drink it over the next 15 or more years."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Lush, ripe, round, open and loaded with licorice, smoke, espresso, black cherry, chocolate and plums. Clearly a wine for hedonistic pleasure that while it is still youthful, is offering a lot of pleasure today. Popped and poured, this is not a wine requiring decanting, it is fully ready to go."

WINE SPECTATOR: "Beautiful aromas of black licorice, berry and vanilla follow through to a full body, with soft, velvety tannins and a long, caressing finish. Polished and very pretty. Incredibly well done for this estate. Best after 2016. 5,700 cases made. —"

WEINWISSER: "Sattes Rubin-Purpur. Intensives, dichtes, sanft dropsiges Bouquet, schon recht komplex. Samtener, sehr feiner Gaumen, wiederum eine tolle Süsse vom Extrakt und den Tanninen ausgehend, Cassis im Finale. Ein delikater Wein mit viel Charme!"