Winemaker Notes
Château Croix Cardinale boasts fresh aromas of ripe black fruit. The wine is full-bodied and delicious on the palate. Like its older cousin, Château Croix Cardinale is known for its smooth tannins. The finish is long and aromatic.
Blend: 64% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A very rich and ripe, dark-fruited wine with dark, stony aromas. Rich fruit on the palate, offering dark plum and chocolate flavors and firm, long, assertive tannins. A blend of 72 per cent merlot and 28 per cent cabernet franc.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Château Croix Cardinale comes from a 4-hectare vineyard of clay and limestone soils that was purchased by Dominique and Florence Decoster, owners of Fleur Cardinale, in 2012. The 2016 is another great value in a vintage where there are loads of them. Made from 72% Merlot and 28% Cabernet Franc brought up in new French oak, it has a medium-bodied, elegant, light-on-its-feet style as well as classic red and blue fruits, some dried herbs and spice aromas, and a silky texture that keeps you coming back to the glass. Drink it any time over the coming decade or more.
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Wine Spectator
A fresh, pure style, with a lovely beam of cassis, bitter cherry and raspberry puree flavors streaming through, lined with elegant floral and chalky mineral accents along the way, resulting in polished edges that show a touch of tension through the middle.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Croix Cardinale gives up bold notes of baked black cherries, red and black plums, garrigue and tilled soil with a hint of mossy bark. The palate is medium to full-bodied, plush and pure with a lovely peppery edge to the long finish.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.