Miner Family Wines of Distinction

The war goes on in its full force and fury, as it has for centuries. Thank goodness that it is not a shooting war, but a war of opinions. The war is to determine who makes the better wines, the historical wine homeland of France or the modern upstart of California. Are the wines of Bordeaux or Burgundy more regal than those of Napa and Sonoma? That question and the war itself is part of what makes the wine enjoying experience so interesting. Everybody has an opinion and there is rarely a meal or occasion that goes by in which wine is served that some comment is made abut the wine. To keep us from being too one sided in our opinions of a wine, we have two friends Amber and Jim Cameron, who have excellent palates, join us in our wine samplings, just to keep us straight.

We recently sampled some premium Napa County wines form the Miner Family winery. The Miner Family has set a goal to make wines that can rival or even exceeded the quality of those from across the ocean. While price is always a consideration, the wine of the Miner Family sell for considerably less than their French counterparts while delivering a memorable wine drinking experience; and after all, isn’t that what it’s all about.

Miner Family 2011 The Oracle ($90). This wine is a Meritage as it is composed of 50% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Savignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. This is an assemblage that matches the finest of the Bordeaux wines and has a softness about it that is not often found in its more austere Gaelic competitors. Rich, pure and smooth is the best way to describe this wine and we must add, worth every penny of its price and even then some.
Miner Family 2011 Wild Yeast Chardonnay ($50) and 2012 Napa Valley Chardonnay ($30). First, let us explain “wild yeast.” Wild yeast is the yeast strain that occurs naturally on the grapes in the vineyard and, if used for fermentation can result in a poor or even bad wine. The wild yeast is usually removed prior to fermentation and a known, friendly strain of yeast introduced. There are times however, when the wild strain can result in an outstanding wine. In the case of the Miner Family 2011 Wild Yeast Chardonnay, the result is ethereal. Their Napa Valley Chardonnay is not a lesser wine, but a different expression of the same variety. These are masterfully made Chardonnays and if you can, try them both, the experience will be well worth the cost.

Miner Family 2011 Gary’s Pinot Noir ($60). The French army is required to salute when they pass the vineyards of Burgundy’s Cote d’Or, they should then be made bow low in the presents of Gary’s Pinot Noir, so exceptional is this wine. We are known to be partial to the variety and have rarely tasted a Pinot Noir that has so captured us. This wine should be used as the touchstone for all California Pinot Noirs.
Miner Family 2012 Stagecoach Cabernet Sauvignon ($75). Did you think that we would let the French Bordeaux’s escape with out a good drubbng; not happening. This wine is not a copy of a Bordeaux wine but a massive expression of superb winemaking and the Miner Family mastery of the style. Even though it has not been aged for seventy-five years, this wine is a smooth, subtle expression of the variety that has few, if any piers. This wine proves that a wine cannot be judged by its place of origin; just its quality.

Miner Family 2012 Stagecoach Merlot ($40). If the previous accolades have exhausted you, wait there is more. This wine lifts the Merlot grape to the heights that it truly deserves rather than the “also ran” that it has become. Flavor and aroma abound in this offering and may jade you toward the other Merlots on in the market place.

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