Winemaker Notes
Miner Family's flagship wine, a full-bodied, red blend, grants a nod toward elegance. This Bordeaux-style blend is silky, reserved and supremely balanced.
Lush aromatics of raspberry and dark cherry with a hint of eucalyptus, The Oracle is decadent, but with finesse. Earthiness and layers of dried flowers and cocoa integrate harmoniously into a finely balanced marriage between tannin and acid, providing the structure that ensures, like all impeccable beauties, this wine is sure to age gracefully.
Blend: 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc, 13% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 2% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Plenty of currant and blueberry character with chocolate, following through to a medium body with medium chewy tannins and a structured finish. Needs time to soften.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc, 13% Merlot and 2% each Malbec and Petit Verdot, Miner Family's 2018 The Oracle features charming scents of cedar, cherries, cassis and red-skinned plums, plus attractive herbal nuances of sage and bay leaf. Medium to full-bodied, it's a bit taut and tannic, with a long, mouthwatering finish, but it doesn't achieve elite-level richness and texture.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.