Aromatically complex with citrus and honeysuckle notes on the nose and a plush feel on the palate, our Viognier consistently displays a fine balance of neutral acidity and intense concentration.
This quintessential food wine was whole cluster pressed and stainless steel fermented to allow the vibrant, tropical, and stone fruit characteristics of this varietal to shine.
Tucked into the eastern hills of the Oakville appellation, squarely within the heart of Napa Valley, Miner Family Winery is the culmination of the story and the vision of owners Dave and Emily Miner. Following a number of years spent working in the software industry, Dave Miner began his journey in the wine industry in 1993 as President of Oakville Ranch Vineyards, owned by his late uncle, Robert Miner. Having spent years as an enthusiastic wine consumer and collector, Dave had a natural affinity for the business.
Emily Miner, a Minnesota transplant and graduate of Santa Clara University, fell in love with Napa during breaks from school. She worked for a fine wine distributor in Minneapolis after graduation and quickly realized that winters in Minnesota were no longer much fun. In 1994, she packed up and headed back to California and shortly after joined Oakville Ranch as the Tasting Room Manger. It was there, Dave and Emily met, fell in love, purchased the winery and were married in 1999, the same year they debuted Miner’s inaugural 1996 vintage. Joining Dave and Emily, in 1997, was winemaker, Gary Brookman. Originally cutting his teeth making wine in 1980 at Joseph Phelps Vineyards, Gary has worked with a myriad of varietals, constantly refining his skills with each passing harvest.
In addition to winery-owned vineyards, Gary & Dave identified, sought and secured a number of California’s finest vineyard sites, but only those allowing them complete farming control. It is this level of detail and control, from vine to wine, that ensures a wine’s consistency and quality. Each wine at Miner is crafted in a style to encapsulate the distinctive elements and the indelible fingerprints of their respective vineyards. This combination of excellent vineyard sites along with passionate and thoughtful winemaking injects the necessary components for creating profoundly joyful wines. The Miners continue to create authentic, elegant and complex wines from a handful of high quality vineyards in Napa Valley and beyond. The next chapter will be left to Dave and Emily’s two energetic daughters, Sofie and Calla, who have a few vintages yet to grow into the family business but will no doubt be raised with a deep understanding and appreciation of the history, the culture, and the people that make Miner wines so fantastically unique.
Late last week, I got a surprise call from the UPS Depot informing me that they had a package waiting for pickup. It turned out to be a bottle of the 2020 Miner Family Vineyards Paso Robles Viognier. I especially like viognier, so I was excited to try it. We managed to wait until Monday, and paired it with one of my favorite meals for this time of year: butternut squash/spinach/caramelized onion lasagna. It turned out to be an excellent match. There was plenty of time to get it properly chilled, and for once, I didn’t let it get too cold. First impression on opening was a distinct floral aroma. Maybe honeysuckle, but I’m not sure, since it’s October, and I haven’t smelled any honeysuckle lately. The first sip was full of fresh fruit, apples and white peaches. This is one of those wines that has so much fruit up front that it almost fools you into thinking it’s sweet. As it warmed up a bit, there was much more minerality showing through; I’ve seen crushed rocks used as a descriptor, and maybe that works here.
The Miner website has it at $28 (less if you’re a club member), but you can find it at wine.com (same vintage) for $19.99. I liked this wine a lot. I think it’s a great choice for those who don’t think they like white wine. At $16.25 it’s a bargain, but at the case price, it’s a screaming deal, IMO.
Last week I received notification from UPS that a package was coming my way on overnight shipping from Wine Country Connect. Neither ddeuddeg nor I had anything in the pipelines and so, we figured that it must be a Lab Rat bottle. Sure enough, it was a bottle of 2020 Miner Family Winery Paso Robles Viognier. ddeuddeg and I both enjoy a good Viognier. We were eager to give it a taste.
ddeuddeg decided that this wine might pair well with his Butternut Squash Lasagna and a side salad with my homemade basic EVOO, lemon, and garlic dressing, with a few herbs added. The lasagna prep took a little longer than expected and ddeuddeg had to rush out for a meeting, so we did our initial taste right before starting to eat. On the nose, I got some pleasant citrus and honeysuckle. On the palate, the citrus continued with the addition of some stone fruit and a bit of minerality. This wine paired well with our dinner. It’s always interesting to see how the wine evolves as it warms a bit during dinner. This one appeared to become a bit sweeter, but it was likely an expression of the fruit.
Because of ddeuddeg’s meeting, we decided to save half of the bottle for tonight’s dinner. We never do that! We had some leftover sausages, German potato salad, and roasted Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, and Broccoli with bacon. and fresh Lima Beans. The wine did fairly well with this meal, but did not have quite enough acidity to hold up to the fat in the sausages. It did nicely with the Limas and potato salad though.
This is a nice, versatile Viognier. Don’t be afraid to drink whites as the cooler temperatures arrive! Pair your wine to your food no matter what the season!
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2020 Miner Family Viognier - $35 = 17.95%
Unfortunately, I could not taste the wine due to having Covid:-( The only thing I can say is that it had a beautiful pale straw color. I screwed the cap back on and hopefully it will stay fresh for a later date!
@browncj7@werehatrack More accurately, two different reports on the same bottle, written by two different reviewers. Bahwm’s review mentions me several times, so it should be pretty easy to tell we’re eating the same meal. Whenever either of us gets a bottle for review, we typically share it and write separate reports, taking rather considerable care to avoid discussing the wine between ourselves during the process, a habit formed during a visit to Cathy Corison’s winery during the 2008 “Magical History Tour,” where she poured samples of her '96, '97, and ‘98 Cabernet Sauvignon, strictly forbidding the 28 of us from doing any talking during the tasting process, to give each a chance to form their own thoughts. We’ve learned a lot about wine during that and subsequent tours, and although we share a lot of the same preferences, we do our best to make sure that each of our reports contains our own separate thoughts, and I think mine was a bit more enthusiastic than hers this time (confirmed by our conversation after the reports were posted).
By the way, every autumn, as soon as the butternut squashes start appearing at the farmers’ market, I make that lasagna. It’s a bit time-consuming, but it’s worth the effort (retirement is nice). This wine was beautiful with it.
@browncj7@ddeuddeg@klezman A lasagna with bechamel instead of ricotta is also very good, recipes are around. I rather like the one that Andrew Rea did recently on Babish.
@ddeuddeg I really appreciate that the two of you do this! It’s always interesting to me to see two different reviews of the same bottle with the same food. Thank you for your service.
I remember these signs in some states.
When I was a kid traveling on vacation with my parents, they wanted to sit at a bar table waiting to be seated for dinner, and as an 8-year-old was told I couldn’t be there in the bar which was in the same room. Luckily that isn’t the way it is in most states anymore.
This is a great buy - I’ve had this wine before and it’s a great example of the variety from Paso. It’s not ‘acid driven’ per se, but also not ‘flabby’ like so many viogniers can get. Highly recommended - though again I wonder where the winery is once again . . .
2020 Miner Viognier, Paso Robles
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
4-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$302.40/Case for 12x 2020 Miner Viognier, Paso Robles at Miner Family Winery
About The Winery
MINER VIOGNIER VIDEO
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Oct 30 - Wednesday, Nov 1
2020 Miner Paso Robles Viognier
4 bottles for $64.99 $16.25/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $159.99 $13.33/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
Late last week, I got a surprise call from the UPS Depot informing me that they had a package waiting for pickup. It turned out to be a bottle of the 2020 Miner Family Vineyards Paso Robles Viognier. I especially like viognier, so I was excited to try it. We managed to wait until Monday, and paired it with one of my favorite meals for this time of year: butternut squash/spinach/caramelized onion lasagna. It turned out to be an excellent match. There was plenty of time to get it properly chilled, and for once, I didn’t let it get too cold. First impression on opening was a distinct floral aroma. Maybe honeysuckle, but I’m not sure, since it’s October, and I haven’t smelled any honeysuckle lately. The first sip was full of fresh fruit, apples and white peaches. This is one of those wines that has so much fruit up front that it almost fools you into thinking it’s sweet. As it warmed up a bit, there was much more minerality showing through; I’ve seen crushed rocks used as a descriptor, and maybe that works here.
The Miner website has it at $28 (less if you’re a club member), but you can find it at wine.com (same vintage) for $19.99. I liked this wine a lot. I think it’s a great choice for those who don’t think they like white wine. At $16.25 it’s a bargain, but at the case price, it’s a screaming deal, IMO.
Last week I received notification from UPS that a package was coming my way on overnight shipping from Wine Country Connect. Neither ddeuddeg nor I had anything in the pipelines and so, we figured that it must be a Lab Rat bottle. Sure enough, it was a bottle of 2020 Miner Family Winery Paso Robles Viognier. ddeuddeg and I both enjoy a good Viognier. We were eager to give it a taste.
ddeuddeg decided that this wine might pair well with his Butternut Squash Lasagna and a side salad with my homemade basic EVOO, lemon, and garlic dressing, with a few herbs added. The lasagna prep took a little longer than expected and ddeuddeg had to rush out for a meeting, so we did our initial taste right before starting to eat. On the nose, I got some pleasant citrus and honeysuckle. On the palate, the citrus continued with the addition of some stone fruit and a bit of minerality. This wine paired well with our dinner. It’s always interesting to see how the wine evolves as it warms a bit during dinner. This one appeared to become a bit sweeter, but it was likely an expression of the fruit.
Because of ddeuddeg’s meeting, we decided to save half of the bottle for tonight’s dinner. We never do that! We had some leftover sausages, German potato salad, and roasted Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, and Broccoli with bacon. and fresh Lima Beans. The wine did fairly well with this meal, but did not have quite enough acidity to hold up to the fat in the sausages. It did nicely with the Limas and potato salad though.
This is a nice, versatile Viognier. Don’t be afraid to drink whites as the cooler temperatures arrive! Pair your wine to your food no matter what the season!
Previous Offer for the 2019 vintage.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2020 Miner Family Viognier - $35 = 17.95%
Unfortunately, I could not taste the wine due to having Covid:-( The only thing I can say is that it had a beautiful pale straw color. I screwed the cap back on and hopefully it will stay fresh for a later date!
@SueBee22 When you feel better and can smell honeysuckle, we expect an update
@browncj7 @SueBee22 Yeah hoping you get over it quickly.
Is there something about Viognier and butternut squash lasagna? That seems more like a glitch in the matrix than a coincidence…
@browncj7 Matrix glitch. Two versions of the same LabRat review. The content is far from identical, but there’s a lot of overlap.
@browncj7 @werehatrack More accurately, two different reports on the same bottle, written by two different reviewers. Bahwm’s review mentions me several times, so it should be pretty easy to tell we’re eating the same meal. Whenever either of us gets a bottle for review, we typically share it and write separate reports, taking rather considerable care to avoid discussing the wine between ourselves during the process, a habit formed during a visit to Cathy Corison’s winery during the 2008 “Magical History Tour,” where she poured samples of her '96, '97, and ‘98 Cabernet Sauvignon, strictly forbidding the 28 of us from doing any talking during the tasting process, to give each a chance to form their own thoughts. We’ve learned a lot about wine during that and subsequent tours, and although we share a lot of the same preferences, we do our best to make sure that each of our reports contains our own separate thoughts, and I think mine was a bit more enthusiastic than hers this time (confirmed by our conversation after the reports were posted).
By the way, every autumn, as soon as the butternut squashes start appearing at the farmers’ market, I make that lasagna. It’s a bit time-consuming, but it’s worth the effort (retirement is nice). This wine was beautiful with it.
@browncj7 @ddeuddeg @werehatrack
Recipe? I’ve never made that kind of lasagne - only ever a ricotta-filled one, usually with spinach and meat sauce.
@browncj7 @ddeuddeg @klezman A lasagna with bechamel instead of ricotta is also very good, recipes are around. I rather like the one that Andrew Rea did recently on Babish.
@klezman The recipe should be in your email inbox if the address I have is still valid.
@ddeuddeg @klezman Ok, I’ll pile on here as well. Sounds like something the better half should know about, as she is always pushing squash my way.
@ddeuddeg I really appreciate that the two of you do this! It’s always interesting to me to see two different reviews of the same bottle with the same food. Thank you for your service.
@browncj7
@browncj7 No harm, no foul, lol.
In for a case.
/giphy like-cantankerous-shaman
I remember these signs in some states.
When I was a kid traveling on vacation with my parents, they wanted to sit at a bar table waiting to be seated for dinner, and as an 8-year-old was told I couldn’t be there in the bar which was in the same room. Luckily that isn’t the way it is in most states anymore.
/image no minors bar
One case order in!
/giphy actual-reckless-roll
@SylvesterSiler Love Actually sighting!
This is a great buy - I’ve had this wine before and it’s a great example of the variety from Paso. It’s not ‘acid driven’ per se, but also not ‘flabby’ like so many viogniers can get. Highly recommended - though again I wonder where the winery is once again . . .
@tercerowines I can’t remember Miner ever joining us…
@klezman bummer…
This Viognier sounds lovely!
/giphy lovely wine