Mike Grgich, Napa Valley Pioneer: Mariani’s Virtual Gourmet Part 2

by Violet Grgich Grgich Hills Estate

Grgich produced the 1969 Mondavi Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, a highly regarded wine that enhanced his reputation and this prompted a financially rewarding offer from Jim Barrett at Château Montelena, a much smaller winery. Mondavi gave Grgich his blessing to move on and promised that he could always return.

Barrett asked Grgich to develop a business plan for a winery to produce world-class Napa Cabernet Sauvignon . Grgich advised Barrett that red wine would produce no income for five years and wrote a program to include white wines that would yield more immediate cash flow. This was the basis for Montelena’s award-winning 1972 Napa Chardonnay and the historic 1973, which cemented the winery’s status.

A winery of his own was now possible and the once penniless immigrant realized his dream, founding Grgich Cellars and picking up accolades as the king of Chardonnay while creating a battery of classic red and white wines. A bottle of the 1973 Napa Chardonnay was enshrined in the Smithsonian Institution as one of “101 Objects That Made America,” ranking along with such icons as Abraham Lincoln’s hat, Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone and Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit.

Grgich, at 93, remains active in the winery, which his daughter Violet now directs. Together they published his dramatic memoir, A Glass Full of Miracles.

In New York recently she showed his 40th anniversary Napa Valley Chardonnay ($50) and several other wines. It’s a totally elegant, limited example of his art, crisp with apple and pear flavours and strong, but not overpowering, acidity. The 2013 Chardonnay ($43), which also was on the table, was equally classical, though slightly more mineral in composition, with peach, mango and tropical flavours.

Grgich had been instrumental in formulating Mondavi’s Fumé Blanc, so named when the producer felt Americans might not be comfortable pronouncing Sauvignon Blanc. Rich in aromatics, Grgich Fumé ($31) is high in tropical fruit flavours and lemongrass ones and matches well with everything from fish to cold veggies and roasted beet salad, a dish served at the presentation. On the red side, we enjoyed his 2012 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon ($185) based on vines planted in the late 1950s, among the oldest in Napa. It is a wine of concentrated intense flavour, well balanced, with flavours of blackberries and black liquorice and a rich, lingering finish.

Article Source: Mike Grgich, Napa Valley Pioneer: Mariani’s Virtual Gourmet Part 2