98 Decanter
The personal project of winemaker Chris Phelps of Inglenook. Since his days at Dominus in the 1990s, he continues to show a deft hand with Cabernet Sauvignon. Grapes are sourced entirely from the Sleeping Lady vineyard in Yountville. Seductively fresh, giving up earth, black fruit, dried thyme and brown baking spices with hints of tobacco. Full-bodied on entry, striking a lovely balance between saturated black and blue-toned fruit with savoury wild herbs, conifer and earth, just hinting at spearmint, and bolstered by fine-grained tannins and a firm acid backbone. Long, layered and cellarworthy.

97 Wine Advocate
Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the deep garnet-purple colored 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Sleeping Lady Vineyard offers up fragrant scents of plum preserves and kirsch with hints of potpourri, stewed black tea and menthol, plus a waft of cast-iron pan. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a taut structure of firm, fine-grained tannins and bold freshness, supporting the generous black fruit layers, finishing with loads of mineral and red fruit sparks.

97 Jeb Dunnuck
A gorgeous wine from Chris Phelps, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Sleeping Lady Vineyard sports a dense purple hue as well as awesome aromatics of cassis, violets, flowers, and spicy oak. It’s young and unevolved, with medium to full-bodied richness, silky tannins, flawless balance, and a great finish. It ranks with the finest wines I’ve tasted from this vineyard.

98 Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon bursts with open-knit expressive scents of black cherry compote, warm cassis, and cinnamon toast with nuances of clove oil, roses, and dark chocolate. The 

Single-Vineyard: The 2019 Ad Vivum Cabernet Sauvignon was grown in two small blocks at Sleeping Lady Vineyard, in Yountville, Napa Valley. Sleeping Lady, the southernmost vineyard in the Yountville AVA, is in a location that enjoys ample cooling from nearby San Pablo Bay, which promotes gradual ripening. These blocks are at the vineyard’s uppermost western perimeter along the Mayacamas Mountains, with rows oriented southwest-northeast. The Bettinelli family farms the vineyard meticulously, using sustainable and responsible farming.

Soil: The soil profile shows Keefers dark gravelly-sandy clay loam of alluvial origin.

Growing Season & Harvest: The 2019 vintage for the Ad Vivum blocks at Sleeping Lady gave us slightly below-average yields with fruit showing excellent balance, freshness and depth. From the very start, the 2019 has developed much like the exciting 2013 and 2016 vintages in Napa, particularly at Sleeping Lady. The 2019 Ad Vivum is already displaying considerable elegance, silky tannins, and a distinctly vibrant quality. Without a doubt, it was early budbreak and a long, relatively mild season that allowed for the development of outstanding fruit in this vintage.

Winemaking: The berries were gently de-stemmed, and then sorted both optically and by hand. Having been harvested at night, the must was very cold (48°F) when it was transferred to tanks (70%) and barrels (30%), where it was allowed to warm up naturally. Primary fermentation was slow but steady, and total time on the skin was 21 days. The new wine was then drained immediately into 75% new French oak barrels for 20 months of aging.

100% Cabernet Sauvignon