Ad Vivum’s Stunning Napa Cabs Direct from the Winery
Very few wines in Napa have even a fraction of the pedigree and quality you'll find in the wines from Ad Vivum. They are sourced exclusively from one of the best parcels in one of the most highly respected vineyards in Yountville and hand crafted by a winemaker with unbelievable experience and excellence. Ad Vivum is a small project from longtime veteran winemaker Chris Phelps. Chris gained a degree in viticulture and enology at UC Davis before heading to France to further his studies at the University of Bordeaux. After becoming friends with mentor and vigneron Christian Moueix, Chris worked at Château Petrus in Pomerol and several other Moueix properties in the region. Earning his trust and respect, Moueix then handpicked Chris to become the founding winemaker of his new venture in Napa Valley—Dominus.
So, for the first 12 vintages Chris helped elevate Dominus to the upper echelons of collectible wines in Napa Valley. After more than a decade at Dominus Chris headed across the valley and worked a stint at Caymus in Rutherford, crafting many of those famous vintages of Special Selection from the mid- to late-90s before starting his own wine-consulting business. Despite such an illustrious career, and being the talent behind some of the most monumental Napa Cabs ever made, Chris has never really sought the limelight, preferring to let his wines do the talking while he remains ever humble and reserved.
In 2007 Chris made the first vintage of Ad Vivum from a vineyard he had grown to know and love just down the road from Dominus on the west Yountville bench called Sleeping Lady. This site sits on a gentle slope right at the base of the Mayacamas Range on an alluvial fan of gravel and cobblestones. With its free-draining gravels and afternoon shading from the mountains, this is a perfect site for making more elegant, detailed, age-worthy Cabernet. The vineyard is lovingly farmed by the fifth and sixth generations of the Bettinelli family.
Through a direct relationship with Chris and his son Josh Phelps, we're able to offer a limited selection of several vintages of these incredible wines. The wines comes directly from the winery's cellar with perfect provenance. They are true masterpieces combining one of the best vineyards in the region with one of the most talented craftsmen in a generation.
2016 Ad Vivum "Sleeping Lady Vineyard" Yountville Cabernet Sauvignon (Winery Direct Library Release) $149.95 96TWI 96WE 94-96RP 95JD A powerful vintage of Ad Vivum as the vineyard bounced back from several vintages of drought. The 2016 has deep blue to black fruits, cassis, elderberry, espresso, cedar and stony minerals. Th formidable structure this wine once had is now beautifully resolved perfect integrated with the fruit as the first few hints of bottle development aromas and flavors edge into the mix. This wine will be in its prime for the next decade and likely age 15-20 before any sign of slowing.
2017 Ad Vivum "Sleeping Lady Vineyard" Yountville Cabernet Sauvignon (Winery Direct Library Release) $149.95 95WE 94VN 94JD 94TWI 2017 is a vintage that sometimes gets overlooked being sandwiched in between the powerhouse 2016 wines and the focused, long-lived wines of 2018. However, I've recently had the opportunity to taste several 2017 Napa Cabs and have been really impressed at how well they're aging and thought them to be drinking very well right now, perhaps even more expresive than the vintages either side. The 2017 Ad Vivum was harvested just days before the wildfires broke out, Chris' relatively early picking decisions averting disaster. The wine is wonderful with dark, dusty fruits of the forest, blackcurrant, mulberry, leather, graphite, cedar pencil. A nice soft array of fruit underpinned by some good structural tannins and rocky mineral notes. Good to go anytime over the next 10-15 years with ease.
2018 Ad Vivum "Sleeping Lady Vineyard" Yountville Cabernet Sauvignon (Winery Direct Library Release) $149.95 97RP 97VN 97TWI One for the cellar that is likely to continue positive development for another 5+ years, then enjoy a couple decades of perfect drinking. This wine is simply stunning, a perfect reflection this wines refined and focused power. So much layered intensity and depth but it's coiled and compacted into the wines muscular form. Notes of cassis, lavender, mulberry, briar patch, shaved cedar, cigar box, and graphite. Very fine but multitudinous tannins promise a long life along with the wines bright fresh acidity that makes the aromatics sing. You get the feeling that this wine isn't quite ready to show all its cards quite yet, but has the potential to be a perfect wine that can stand toe-to-toe with the best of the best in Napa and beyond.