MINER FAMILY VINEYARDS

Miner Family Vineyards selected as Wine & Spirits Top 100 Tasting Winery Of The Year 2006!

"The winery's flagship wine is The Oracle, made with fruit contracted from Stagecoach Vineyards, in the hills just above Oakville Ranch. The 2002 was the winery's top-scoring red this year. It has sleek, generous texture and just enough granitic minerality to distinguish it from valley-floor Oakville wines. It tastes like it was grown in the hills."

To download press reviews for both current and previous vintages: click here.

Red Wines - Current Vintage

The Oracle, Napa Valley Red Wine 2004

Silver Medal Winner, 2008 San Francisco International Wine Competition

4+ STARS, RESTAURANT WINE
"Full bodied and complex, this is an excellent blend, with rich fruit character, good depth of flavor, evident complexity, and a long finish, tasting of plum, cedar, black licorice, spicy oak, and blueberry."- Ronn Wiegand, MS, MW

Washington Examiner, April 17, 2008
"A Bordeaux style blend that delivers ripe fruit over the entire palate with a wonderful mouthfeel. Good balance and structure."

90 Points, Wine Advocate, December 2007
"A beautiful wine from this Napa winery... Deep ruby/purple, with spicy aromatics intertwined with some lush blackberry and cassis fruit, opulent on the palate, with full body, silky tannins, and low acidity, this is a beauty that should drink handsomely for at least a decade. Drink 2007 - 2017." - Robert Parker

91 Points, Wine & Spirits Magazine, December 2007
"This wine's cool edges bring a North Coast conifer forest to mind. Ripe cherry flavors and espresso coffee scents give it sweetness, though the wine is balanced and understated. For duck with roasted cherries."

90 Points, Wine Enthusiast, December 2007
"It's a distinguished wine, classic in the modern Napa sense of softness and ripeness to the point of decadent drinkability. There's a sweet olive-tapenade edge to the blackberry, cassis and cherry flavors. The finish, believe it or not, suggests blueberry pie, fresh from the oven."

Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville 2005

Sante Magazine, January 2009
"Rich, intensely fruity aromas and flavors of red plum and berry compote and notes of cinnamon and oak. Full bodied with firm, chewy tannins; warm and expressive. Quail stuffed with fall grains with a berry sauce."

The Anniston Star December 12, 2008
"Some of the most prized wines for serious collectors are big, California cabernets that garner prices well in excess of $100 per bottle, but one does not have to spend staggering sums to purchase superb critically acclaimed wines. The wines from Miner Family Vineyards are such wines." - Pat Kettles

Best of Tasting, First Place - California Grapevine
"Medium-dark ruby; attractive intense, spicy raspberry and black cherry fruit aroma with a hint of mint...plummy, sweet black cherry fruit flavors with good depth and overtones of vanilla; medium full tannin; lingering aftertaste.

92 Points, Wine & Spirits Magazine, June 2008
"This cabernet begins and ends with scents of dark chocolate, while the middle fills with bosky cherry flavor as it opens with air. The tannin has cool, with mineral inflections that balance the sweet fruit."

92 Points, The Wine News, April 2008
"Dusty black cherry aromas with hints of coconut and white pepper. Soft cherry fruit entry with drying mineral flavors and charred oak notes. Balanced, well-integrated tannins join ripe fruit and toasted oak in the lengthy close."

Cabernet Sauvignon, Stagecoach Vineyard 2005

4 STARS, Decanter Magazine, January 2009
"Good summer berry aromas. Delicious: generous fruit, but still fresh. Not the heaviest styles - quite sleek and refined."

91 Points, TWO STARS Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine, August 2008
"A highly distinctive wine...deep, well-defined wine with a fine sense of fruity substance. It is long on currants with adjuncts of vanilla, dried flowers and chocolate, and it shows a bit of palatal polish that belies its relative youth. It is not one for drinking straightaway, however, and its nominal finishing tannins clearly invite five to seven years of continuing growth and improvement. Very limited availability.Medium Red. Balanced, good depth, medium tannin. Beef and lamb.Cellar for future drinking. Wine will improve with bottle aging."

Pinot Noir, Garys' Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands 2006

TOP 100 WINES 2008 SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"We hadn't particularly connected this Oakville winery with one of Monterey County's top Pinot sites, winemaker Gary Brookman found an eloquent expression for the fruit. A dry toastiness is balanced by bright strawberry and floral tones like geranium. Bright and powerful, with tightly wound tannins."

THREE STARS SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE WINE SELECTIONS
Winemaker Gary Brookman has crafted a rich, balanced wine with concentrated fruit - red apple, cherry and bright strawberry - on the palate. A pretty, slightly more subtle nose of dark fruit, toasty, dry earth and floral tones. Tart red fruit helps brighten the tannins on the finish. The full package.

Gold Medal Winner, 2008 San Francisco International Wine Competition

Pinot Noir, Rosella's Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands 2006

TWO STARS SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE WINE SELECTIONS
Sweet oak surrounds strawberry tart and slight pepper with coconut highlights.

Syrah Napa Valley 2003

Food & Wine Magazine's Wine Guide 2007
"A heavy bottle holds a wine of surprising delicacy, with dark fruit, cocoa, flowers and fine minerals. Drink now -- eight years. Excellent."

2005 Miner "La Diligence" Syrah

Piedmont Post "Rhone Rangers Best of Tasting", April 2007
"Interesting nose of dark berry fruit with hints of eucalyptus and menthol. Monster fruit explodes on the palate and yet there is enough structure to balance out the wine. This blockbuster could use a few years of aging and will last for a decade."

Merlot, Stagecoach Vineyard 2005

Decanter Magazine "4 Star Award" December 2008

SF Chronicle November 14, 2008 TWO AND A HALF STARS
"Overt oak offset by deep, extracted bramble berry tinged with herb and mint. Becomes brighter on the finish, which has graphite and finely grained tannins."

4 STARS, RESTAURANT WINE
"Round, full bodied, quite toasty in character, with some richness, firm structure, and a long finish, tasting of cedar, spicy oak, tobacco, black currant, and cherry." - Ronn Wiegand, MS, MW

Highly Recommended, California Grapevine
"Medium ruby; attractive, intense, toasty,smoky, cedary, slightly herbaceous, dark currant and black cherry fruit aroma with notes of vanilla, tobacco and green olive; full body; big,rich, thick, concentrated, cedary, herbal, black cherry fruit flavors..."

Petite Sirah, Napa Valley 2002

92 Points, Wine Enthusiast Magazine, August 2005
"Exuberant and lusty. This is a big red wine, dry and full-bodied and not at all reticent. Ripe, almost jammy flavors of blackberries, cassis, cherries and cocoa, with a sweet covering of oak, and rich, thick, ripe tannins."

Sangiovese, Mendocino 2005

4 STARS, RESTAURANT WINE
"Full bodied, crisp and toasty and ripe in style with a medium long finish, tasting of cocoa, spicy oak, plum, and cherry."- Ronn Wiegand, MS, MW

KCBS Radio, All News 740 AM, San Francisco
Narsai David's Wine Reviews 5/30/07
"Fine, rich aromas of ripe berries and a toasty touch of oak on the aroma, leads to a very appealing mouthful. Splendid balance between fruit, tannin, and acidity. I drank this with a pasta full of springtime vegetables - mainly favas ... a perfect combo, but any spicy dish or roast chicken would be fine."

Click here for the audio review in .mp3 format. (second review :59)

Rosato, Mendocino 2006

KCBS Radio, All News 740 AM, San Francisco
Narsai David's Wine Reviews 5/30/07
"Bright, glistening color... Red enough to suggest something like a more serious rose. Aromas of a berry bramble and a bit of spice lead to a delicious wine. Just enough tannin to provide a little mouthfeel. Certainly the perfect wine as the weather warms up. Picnics for sure. Baked ham, pizza, or just a chilled glass of Rose. A delicious wine."

Click here for the audio review in .mp3 format.

Washington Examiner 5/10/07
"... a wonderfully unique blush wine featuring notes of strawberry and earthiness on the delicate nose. Fresh flavors of red cherry and pomegranate are kept in balance, resulting in a crisp, refreshing finish. Serve well-chilled alongside grilled or chilled shrimp."

White Wines - Current Vintage

Chardonnay, Wild Yeast 2006

91 Points, Connoisseurs' Guide To California Wine, February 2009
"Mixing the bright fruit scents of Fuji apples with a tangier green apple note, roasted grains accents and a touch of crème brulee richness, this wine follows on the palate with a full body and a rounded, supple texture with soft beginnings and respectably firm ending qualities. Its style directs it to service with the fleshy fish or roasted chickens in flavorful sauces, and if not demanded, a bit of bottle age will not hurt."

90 Points, Anthony Dias Blue Reviews November 2008
"Silky and showing mellow vanilla oak and ripe, creamy fruit; dense and complex with lovely style and grace."

Chardonnay, Napa Valley 2007

Restaurant Wine, February 2009
"Excellent. Fleshy and ripe, with full body, smooth texture, and a very long finish, tasting of peach, baked apple, pineapple, vanilla, roasted nut, and spicy oak."

Viognier, Simpson Vineyard 2007

Savannah Morning News, February 25, 2009
"The Miner bottling, around $20, is luscious and pleasing in the mouth. Its complex intensity results from low-yielding vineyards that create natural acidity and lush, tropical fruit flavors. As a devout Southerner, I detected a slight hint of cantaloupe, but then, I was in Viognier nirvana. This is a remarkably easy-to-pair food wine-and an elegant sipper."

Press Democrat, September 14, 2008
"Has a plush feel, good concentration and good acidity. Floral, with a note of honeysuckle. Balanced."

4 STARS, RESTAURANT WINE ISSUE #128
"A round, medium rich Viognier that tastes of peach, honeysuckle, roasted nut, cherimoya, and toast. Full and well balanced. Excellent value."

Connoisseurs' Guide March 2009
92 POINTS, 2 PUFFS
Our 2007 Viognier ranked 2nd in the March issue out of the 30 plus tasted, including Phelps, DuMol, Pride Viognier.

"Sweetly spiced peaches merge with touches of honey, anise and kiwi in the deep, impressively filled aromas of this well-focused youngster, and the equally rich flavors that follow show lots of fruity substance and no let-up in depth. Full-bodied and quite well-balanced with Chardonnay-like richness and weight, it is a wine of considerable potential and should grow better with a year or two of quiet time in your cellar. Good Value."

San Francisco Chronicle Wine Section's Top Pick Viognier
"Winemaker Gary Brookman used fruit from John Simpson's vineyard in Madera, located in the Central Valley near Fresno, for this wine. In its 10th vintage, it has always has been 100 percent Viognier. Rich pear, citrus and floral aromas with hints of Galia melon lead to a full-flavored palate and slight oily mouthfeel, as befits Viognier."

The New Jersey Star-Ledger November 14, 2008
“Recommended White: From an up-and-coming winemaking star, this is a classic viognier, with floral aromas and clean, crisp flavors."