A fantastic boutique Cabernet from Ad Vivum and the great 2018 vintage - limited.

98 Points Decanter: "The Ad Vivum 2018 Sleeping Lady is built on a solid foundation of superbly structured tannins—firm, muscular, and robust. This is the most powerful vintage yet, with broad-shouldered tannins complemented by juniper, sage, black pepper notes and a hint of charcuterie. Medium-bodied on the palate, it offers blackberry and blue fruit aromatics alongside tobacco and espresso bean, with the tannins continuing to build through the finish. This is an impressively fresh and intriguing wine, with generous fruit character yet a coiled, reserved structure that carries remarkable tension."

97+ Robert Parker: "Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the Ad Vivum 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Sleeping Lady Vineyard is deep garnet-purple in color. It leaps from the glass with blackcurrant jelly, warm plums and mulberries notes plus suggestions of black raspberries, roses, tar, anise and fragrant earth. Full-bodied, the palate is very tight-knit, with firm, ripe, grainy tannins and lively acidity supporting the layers upon layers of nuances, finishing very long and wonderfully minerally. 480 cases were made."

The 2018 Ad Vivum Cabernet represents one of Napa's best recent vintages, made with 100% cabernet sauvignon grapes from two micro-blocks at Sleeping Lady Vineyard in Yountville along the Mayacamas Mountains. Winemaker Chris Phelps has worked with Petrus, Dominus and Caymus and he made just 430 cases of this allocation only wine for his own label. Dense tannic structure and youthfully energetic cassis mean the wine will drink well for several decades to come.