Legendary Napa Valley Winemaker Who Helped Put Region On The International Map Dies At 100
Courtesy Grgich Hills Cellars
Miljenko “Mike” Grgich, the stoic winemaker and owner of Grgich Hills Estate, has passed away at the age of 100 as confirmed by his family to The Press Democrat. An immigrant from the former Republic of Yugoslavia, winemaking was in his blood. Mike was born to a winemaking family on Croatia's Dalmatian Coast, and to become Napa Valley's "King of Chardonnay" he first had to escape communist rule during World War II.
Grgich will forever be etched in the halls of wine royalty for possessing the hands that made the famed 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay—the wine that triumphed in the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. Known as the Judgement Of Paris, the blind tasting between American and French wines forever transformed public opinion around California wines, and importantly thrust Napa Valley onto a global stage, one it was ready to compete on whether the local community knew it or not at the time.
Reaching his final life goal, Mike turned 100 years old in 2023 and was celebrated with a series of parties at the Grgich Hills Estate's Rutherford location earlier this year. He ran the Estate until 2018, when at age 95 he gave up control to his daughter Violet (President) and Ivo Jeramaz (Winemaker & Vice President.)
In 2016 he published his autobiography, A Glass Full Of Miracles: a book of humble beginnings, trials and tribulations of making new roots, and triumph as an American success story. You truly won't believe the series of events that lead Grgich to the Napa Valley. He left home at a young age with a suitcase filled with winemaking books and a beret on his head. The signature beret he became known for was first purchased when he lost his umbrella but couldn't afford the replacement cost. Today those winemaking books and his beret are on display in the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History. In memoriam, we say goodbye to you Miljenko “Mike” Grgich.
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