Grgich Hills Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
We had left over beef bourgogne for dinner so I pulled from the cellar this premium Napa Cabernet for pairing. This is the flagship estate wine from Grgich Hills, one of the most storied legendary producers with a historic past.
Founded by Miljenko “Mike” Grgich in 1977 with Austin Hills, the winery has been family-owned and operated since.
Miljenko “Mike” Grgich was born and raised in Croatio in a winemaking family. He came to American and Napa Valley in 1958. He worked for Lee Stewart, founder of Souverain Winery and an early Napa Valley pioneer, then Christian brothers before Beaulieu Vineyard where he spent nine years working alongside the legendary Russian winemaker AndrĂ© Tchelistcheff.
In 1968, Mike became chief enologist at Robert Mondavi Winery, considered the most innovative winery at the time. “In 1969, I made my first Cabernet for Robert Mondavi,” Mike recalls. “In an important blind tasting, fifteen California winemakers proclaimed ours to be the best Cabernet in all of California.”
In 1972, Mike joined Chateau Montelena as winemaker and limited partner.Miljenko “Mike” Grgich first gained international recognition at the epoch “Judgement of Paris Tasting” of 1976 when, in a now-historic blind tasting, a panel of eminent French judges blind tasted a flight of fabled white Burgundies of France and a small sampling of upstart Chardonnays from the United States Napa Valley. When the scores were tallied, the world was shocked to learn the French judges had chosen the 1973 Napa Valley Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, crafted by Mike Grgich, as the finest white wine in the world. The results stunned the international wine establishment and put US and California wines on the map, and earned winemaker Mike Grgich a reputation as one of the greatest winemakers in the world.
Austin Hills of the namesake coffee company, founded Hills Vineyards and developed his own label in 1975. After the Judgement of Paris in 1976, Austin contacted Mike Grgich with a proposal to join forces to produce world class wines in Napa Valley.
Austin Hills had broad business experience and money to invest, since he and his sister, Mary Lee Strebl, had just sold the coffee company. Austin wanted to produce world-class wines and was looking for a winemaker to do that. Mike had extensive winemaking and management experience and now had the reputation as the American winemaker who beat the French.
Austin grew up in the Hills Bros. Coffee company
family, founded by his grandfather and grand uncle in
1878 in San Francisco. Austin acquired a business background,
earning a B.A. degree from Stanford University and M.B.A. from
Columbia University, before working at Hills Bros. Coffee, Inc. Starting
as an assistant coffee buyer, he worked his way up to Vice President
and finally Chairman of the Board.
Today, Austin is Chairman of Grgich Hills Estate, and also president of Hills Vineyard, and an active member of San Francisco society, serving on a wide variety of boards.
The Hills Vineyard should not be confused with Hill Family Vineyards of Napa Valley, long time Napa Valley grape growers and vineyard owners who produce a portfolio of wines often featured in these pages.
The two men were an ideal match for success with their combined complementary business and viticulture and winemaking skills, so Mike Grgich joined forces
with Austin Hills in a partnership in 1977, forming Grgich Hills.
The Grigh Hills winery and vineyard was established in Yountville in the center of Napa Valley on the valley floor. Mike first discovered the property in 1958 as an ideal site to produce quality grapes due to its ideal sun exposure and excellent drainage.
Today, the 63-acre Yountville vineyard is planted to classic Bordeaux varietals - 53 acres Cabernet Sauvignon, 5.4 acres Petit Verdot, and 5.1 acres in Merlot. A 25-acre plot is the second oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines, planted in 1959. These vines are showcased in a vineyard designated latbel, "Yountville Old Vine Cabernet Sauvignon".
Grgich Hills expanded the Yountville Appellation vineyards in 1984.
In 1992, Grgich Hills was selected Winery Of the Year by Wine & Spirits magazine, and, Mike Grgich appeared on the cover of Wine Spectator magazine, “California’s Old World Master-Few Can Challenge Mike Grgich in crafting World-Class Wine.”
By 2007, Grigh Hills had grown to 366 acres spread across five vineyards throughout
Napa Valley - 34 acres in Calistoga, 18 in Rutherford, 163 in American Canyon, 88 in Carneros, and the original 63 in Yountville.
Able to use estate grown grapes exclusively in
the production of their wines, they changed the name to “Grgich Hills Estate” to
recognize their wines as 100% estate grown.
A Croatian TV documentary about his life, “Like the Old Vine,” won the
Grand Jury’s Special Award from France’s Oenovideo Film Festival.
Violet Grgich grew up accompanying her father in the vineyards and cellar. She spent her summers at the winery, doing everything from bottling line work to laboratory analysis and working in the tasting room.
She attended the University of California, earning a BA in music while taking classes in biology, chemistry, and enology. After graduation, she returned home to Grgich Hills to continue her education in the wine business, learning beside her father.
After a period to receive her Master of Music in harpsichord at the world renowned Indiana University School of Music, Violet rejoined the winery fulltime in 1988. Today, she is responsible for daily management of the winery, as well as sales and marketing.Ivo Jeramaz serves as Winemaker and VP of Vineyards & Production, responsible for the day-to-day operations in the cellar and the vineyard, including naturally farming Grgich Hills’ 366 acres.
