Mike Grgich
Mike Grgich ( Croatian: Miljenko Grgić ) (born April 1, 1923 in Desne , Kingdom of Yugoslavia ) is a Croatian-American oenologist and winemaker , one of the pioneers of American viticulture .
Life
His family owned a small winery in Dalmatia . Grgich attended the University of Zagreb in 1949 , where he studied viticulture and oenology . In 1954 he fled to West Germany as a student from communist Yugoslavia . After completing his studies, he emigrated to California via Canada .
For nine years he was the main chemist at Beaulieu Vineyard, responsible for quality control. During this time he was also involved with the legendary Russian oenologist André Tchelistcheff (1901–1994), Joe Heitz (1919–2000) and Robert Mondavi (1913–2008) in the first large-scale experiments on malolactic fermentation in California .
In 1972 he started his own business with a partnership at Chateau Montelena Winery in Napa Valley, California . Mike Grgich was one of the first winemakers to develop Zinfandel as a white wine (1972) (i.e. without maceration with the berry skins); this is slightly pink in color and is called "white zinfandel" .
The "Paris tasting"
On May 24, 1976, the British wine merchant Steven Spurrier ( Sommelier Master of Wine and journalist) gathered the most renowned French wine experts in Paris for a test, the later famous " Paris Wine Jury ". The aim was to compare Californian Cabernet Sauvignons and Chardonnays with the best wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy .
The wine tasting was blind (at least half-blind): the experts knew which wines were served, but the order was withheld from them. The result was astonishing and challenged the self-confidence of the French wine world as producers of the world's best wines: Stag's Leap Wine Cellar won the red wine category and Chateau Montelena won the white wine category - both 1973 wines from California. A Time reporter who was present at the rehearsal carried the news of the US wines victory home, where the New York Times and the Washington Post eagerly picked up the news. Statisticians today put the judgment of that time into perspective, after they took another closer look at the completely preserved evaluation sheets of the participants.
This success of his wine allowed Grgich to start his own winery, Grgich Hills Cellar in Rutherford, California, which owns 365 acres (147 hectares) of vineyards and produces 80,000 cases of wine each year. Its first vintage won the Great Chardonnay strength test in front of 221 competitors from all over the world. The winery was renamed Grgich Hills Estate in 2006 .
Activities in Croatia
After the collapse of Yugoslavia, Grgić tried early to return to Croatia with the aim of establishing a winery in Dalmatia. In 1996 Grgić founded a company in Trstenik on the Pelješac peninsula in a former vacation home of the Yugoslav People's Army. A Plavac Mali and a Posip are pressed in the winery called "Grgić Vina" . In July 2015, large parts of the winery were destroyed in a forest fire.
Web links
- Grgić's biography in the encyclopedia of the Lexicographical Institute “Miroslav Krleža”, Zagreb
- http://www.grgich.com
- http://www.montelena.com
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Grgich, Mike |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Grgić, Miljenko |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American pioneer of American viticulture |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 1, 1923 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Desne , Kingdom of Yugoslavia |