Ad Vivum Cellars - Sleeping Lady Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

Druva

100% Cabernet Sauvignon (55% Clone 191, 45% Clone 7)

Tasting note

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. 350 cases were made.

Chris Phelps has been the winemaker at Ad Vivum for 12 years. This is a small production label of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon (55% Clone 191, 45% Clone 7) coming from just six rows of vines from the Sleeping Lady vineyard in the Yountville AVA south of Dominus.

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Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Technical sheet

Composition:
100% Cabernet Sauvignon (75% Clone 191, 25% Clone 7)

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.

Bottling:
350 cases, July 2021