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

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."

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville

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."

2003 Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville

92 Points Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine, April 2006
"Focusing first on smells of ripe currants and adding in suggestions of rich loam and hints of woodsy spice, this attractive wine is full and somewhat open in styling at the front of the palate with just enough firming tannin in the finish for a few years of cellaring. Its supple, mouthfilling impressions make for a wine that some will enjoy in the here and now, yet it has what it takes to grow over time, and our recommendation is to let it alone until 2010 or later. "

90 Points, Best of Tasting "Very Highly Recommended"- California
Grapevine, March 2006
"Attractive, forward, spicy, herbal, cedary, complex, black cherry and blueberry aroma with notes of green olive, mocha, and tobacco... rich, plush, highly extracted, very ripe, black cherry fruit flavors with an appealing, velvety mouth feel; well-balanced and structured; medium-full to full tannin; lingering aftertaste. Approachable now though deserving of another five years of bottle aging. Shows distinctive varietal character."

90 Points, Wine & Spirits Magazine, August 2006
"This shows refinement and care in its making, particularly in the rich scents of expressive oak. The fruit is superripe, with flavors of blackberries and baked cherries, a peppercorn edge to the tannins placing it with a steak."

88 Points, Stephen Tanzer's Intern'l Wine Cellar June 2006
"Good deep color. Currant, tobacco, chocolate and smoky oak on the nose. Supple round and plump, with restrained sweetness to the flavors of plum, currant, mint, fresh herbs and nutty oak. Has enough acidity to maintain its shape. Finishes with sweet tannins and good breadth."

96 points sommselections (Vintrust)
"Herb, eucalyptus, red/black cherry;sweet, red fruit, baking spice, cedar; weighty, good density yet bright; long, persistent with sweet red fruit;great density and harmony, cellar it."

Silver Medal Winner 2006 San Francisco International Wine Competition

Pinot Noir, Garys' Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands 2005

92 Points Wine Spectator, October 2007
"Smooth, rich and creamy with supple plum, blackberry and blueberry fruit that's well-structured, with ripe but firm tannins that turn rich, earthy and complex.Drink now through 2011."- J.L

California Grapevine 5/07
"Medium-light brickish ruby; attractive, forward, relatively mature, smoky red berry and cherry fruit aroma with notes of cinnamon, mocha, and charred oak; rich toasty, black cherry fruit flavors with good depth and a velvety texture… Developed with airing in the glass and will reward a few more years of bottle aging. Highly recommended."

Pinot Noir, Rosella's Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands 2005

90 Points, Wine & Spirits Magazine "Year's Best" April 2008
"Floral strawberry scents meld with musky complexity in this wine. The tannins have an usually saline character, a brininess that would match seared duck breast served with duck leg confit."

90 Points, Wine & Spirits Magazine, October 2007
“Floral strawberry scents meld with musky complexity in this wine."

California Grapevine 5/07
“Medium to full body; forward, herbal, smoky cherry and raspberry fruit flavors with a touch of sweet oak… Shows some complexity and deserving of several more years of bottle aging. Highly recommended.”

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

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."