Grgich Hills Napa Valley Wine Tasting with Special Guest Violet Grgich Tuesday, December 10th 7:30pm and all the wines from Grgich on SALE!!
Whenever a man is tired, wine is a great restorer of strength. ~ Homer, The Iliad
Grgich Hills is one of the iconic wineries of Napa Valley and we have drank a lot of these wines over the 41 years that the Wine Watch has been in existence. So when I heard that Violet Grgich was coming to town, I immediately jumped at the opportunity to break bread with here at the Wine Bar even though it is December.
We are happy to have Violet here for this event to tell the story of her family’s winery. Violet grew up in the wine business as her father was one of Napa Valley’s most famous winemaker. Mike Grgich made the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that won the tasting of Paris in 1976, putting California wine on the map. The Chardonnay at Grgich is still among the best and we are featuring the 2021 in our gift box selections this year as it is still a perennial winner in this category.
Join us as we welcome Violet to South Florida for an evening of Napa Valley wines and chef Toni is making a special meal to accompany the current releases from Grgich Hills winery. The fee for this tasting is $250 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.
Grgich Hills Napa Valley Wine Tasting
with Special Guest Violet Grgich
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
7:30 PM
2021 Grgich Hills Fume Blanc Napa
2021 Grgich Hills Estate Chardonnay Napa
2019 Grgich Hills Zinfandel Napa
2019 Grgich Hills Merlot Napa
2019 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
2018 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Yountville Old Vine Napa
2019 Grgich Hills Violetta Late Harvest Desert White Napa 375ml
Menu
Selection of Cheese and Charcuterie
Shrimp Enchiladas with Salsa Verde, Onion, Tomato and Black Olive
Duck Foie Gras Sausage Pasta with Goat Cheese, Sundried Tomatoes and Peas
Colorado Rack of Lamb with Jalapeno Mint Jam and Sweet Potato Au Gratin
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $250 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@wineatch.com. Please let us know when you make your reservations if you have any food allergies or aversions and chefs Toni and Dani will be happy to accommodate you.
A bit about Grgich Hills Winery:
One of the true patriarchs of the modern day California wine industry is Mike Grgich. One of eleven children, Miljenko “Mike” Grgich was born in Desne, Croatia (Yugoslavia). His father had a vineyard, and the children assisted tending the vines and in the making of the wine. Mike remembers stomping grapes at a very young age, and these were some of the fondest memories of his youth as Croatia was engulfed by the Soviet Union after World War II. The communists did everything in their power to create a new order without free enterprise and freedom of speech. Out of the six republics in Yugoslavia, Croatia was suppressed the most. Mike had attended the University of Zagreb to study Enology and did not feel he would be able to express himself in this environment, so he left his native land in 1958 for the promise of freedom that the United States offered. Even at that time the Napa Valley was world renown for its fine wines, so this was naturally his first stop. He set up shop here in St. Helena and set out to acquire as wide and complete a range of Napa Valley experience as possible.
Grgich began his career in winemaking with the legendary Lee Stewart at Souveraign Cellars (now Burgess Cellars) on Howell Mountain. It was here that he learned of the love and devotion that it took to create the work of art that fine wine represents. Although it is not widely known, Mike also spent a short time at Christian Brothers Winery working under the master of sparkling wine at that time, Augusto Pirio. Pirio taught the maddeningly difficult art of creating a blend, and then blending wines to equally match the standard cuvee, year in and year out. Mike then worked for the master of masters, Andre Tchelistcheff, Beaulieu’s legendary winemaker for nearly four decades. It was this experience that catapulted Grgich into the winemaking elite of Napa Valley. Mike recalls, “It was he who put the accent on the art of winemaking. He knew that science wasn’t everything. I hadn’t quite learned that lesson yet, but it was coming.” After nine years at Beaulieu, Mike moved on to work at another legendary winery in Napa, Robert Mondavi. Mike saw Mondavi as an energetic young renegade, a dynamic man of action willing to take experimentation into any direction that might possibly yield improvements, however small. It was Mondavi who began to import French oak in significant quantities and investigate the wide range of oak sources and stylings, and their influence as the wines matured. Mike was truly impressed with the technological wonders that money could buy, and the breadth of Mondavi’s experimental mode, but he also learned a most important lesson here, the importance of intuition in the process. Grgich remembers, “Then one day at Mondavi, I tasted a 1967 Zinfandel made by an old Italian winemaker in the valley. I liked it. It was a wonderful wine, with wonderful flavors. Yet here was a guy who had no lab, no centrifuge, no nothing! I couldn’t believe it. But I finally began to realize that the less changed a wine is, the better chance it has of becoming a wine that people will like.”
After completing one the most eclectic wine educations that the world had to offer, Mike was ready to make wine on his own. In 1972 he went to Chateau Montelena to bring a winery that had laid dormant for decades into the 20th century. It is amazing to think that he did this in such a short period of time. In the great Paris tasting of 1976, his very first vintage at Montelena, the 1973 Chardonnay took top honors. This amazed not only Mike Grgich but the rest of the wine world as well. The writing was on the wall, Grgich would soon have his own label, he had proven that he had the talent, the desire, and the wherewithal; he only needed the financial backing before he would have his own label.
In 1977 Mike Grgich and vineyard owner, Austin Hill combined forces and created Grgich Hills. Austin was in the coffee business in San Francisco, his grandfather and great uncle founded Hills Brothers Coffee in 1878. Like wine, fine coffee is a beverage based on good agricultural techniques, nurtured by the artistry and technology of ancient production methods, and aided by experienced “noses”. Thus Austin Hills found a business that he could identify with, a business which he could devote his experience and efforts wholeheartedly and without reservation, Grgich and Hills were the perfect match. The dream of owning a winery came true for both of these gentlemen in 1977 they signed the deal that put Grgich Hills in business. Austins fine vineyard and extensive financial background would be coupled with Mike’s rich vinicultural heritage and experience in a small winery, dedicated at first to Chardonnay, complimented by small amounts of Zinfandel and Johannisberg Rieslings of varying degrees of sweetness. Later, small amounts of Fume Blanc would join the roster, and finally the king of Napa Valley reds, Cabernet Sauvignon.
Grgich Hills first vintage of Chardonnay was the 1978 vintage, there were two wines released prior to that which Mike had consulted on the production, however this was his first baby. The wine met immediate success at the polls, the Wine Spectator scored the 1978 Chardonnay a whopping (92) points. Some skeptics may have called this a fluke, however the very next year Grgich and Hills raised the bar even higher and the 1979 Chardonnay scored (95) points. This has probably been their most consistent wine, the recent 2021 Carneros Selection Chardonnay scored (92) points in Wine & Spirits There are some critics of this wine that say it is too lean and austere, but then again maybe this is why it won the favor of French and English tasters who liked it better than its Burgundian competition.
Mike lived a full life and was very active at the winery up until his death on December 13, 2023, he was 100 years young!
All the wines from Grgich Hills on SALE!!
2021 Grgich Hills Fume Blanc Napa
Price: $36.00 Your Price: $31.68
(95 Points) Vibrant and generous aromatics lead to a flavorful palate and lingering finish. This wine offers a tantalizing combination of flinty aromas, pithy citrus flavors and an energizing, palate-refreshing presence. Wine Enthusiast
2021 Grgich Hills Estate Chardonnay Napa
Price: $51.75 Your Price: $45.54
(92 Points) Zesty reduction gives the meatier aspects of this wine a run for their money. This is generous, dynamic and cool, needing some bottle age to shed the reductive scallion notes and reveal more of its underlying complexities. Wine & Spirits
2019 Grgich Hills Zinfandel Napa
Price: $39.75 Your Price: $34.98
The Wine: This gorgeous wine reveals tangy raspberry aromas with notes of underlying black cherry lushness. A subtle touch of strawberry, coupled with a hint of blackberry, lingers gently on the palate. Along with rich, complex flavors which continue to evolve in the glass, this focused Zinfandel has a firm, elegant structure, indicative of its long aging potential. Pair this wine with cevapcici (Croatian sausages), a rack of lamb or steak sandwiches.
Vintage: The growing season started out with unseasonably warm temperatures in the late winter and early spring, triggering early bud break. Colder temperatures in May slowed grape development which, coupled with the fourth year of drought, resulted in a smaller crop in 2015. The harvest was one of our earliest in memory with the berries smaller than usual but packed with flavor and color.
Vineyard: Our 34-acre vineyard above Calistoga is the warmest of our five vineyards and the sole source of our Zinfandel. Its northeast exposure catches abundant morning sun but is shaded from the hot, late afternoon sun and combined with the vineyard’s gravelly loam soil, creates the perfect spot to grow this varietal. We farm all of our vineyards naturally, without artificial pesticides or herbicides, and they are certified organic.
Blend: 97% Zinfandel, 3% Petite Sirah
2019 Grgich Hills Merlot Napa
Price: $51.00 Your Price: $44.88
This exquisite, sophisticated Merlot begins with aromas of dark cherry, raspberry and sweet ripe tomato supported by floral undertones of lilies, violets and fallen leaves. The tannins have an elegant density with a softness that is supported by fresh red fruit acidity and hints of basil. The finish is long and substantial with a hint of spice.
Blend: 89% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc
2019 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $78.75 Your Price: $69.30 Quantity in Stock: 9
(93 Points) Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon skips out of the glass with lively notes of redcurrant jelly, blackberries and black raspberries, plus hints of fragrant earth and dried Provence herbs. The medium-bodied palate is refreshing and vibrant, delivering red and blackberry layers with a pleasantly chewy texture, finishing with an herbal lift. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2018 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Yountville Old Vine Napa
Price: $255.00 Your Price: $224.40
(94 Points) The medium to full-bodied 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Yountville Old Vine leads with scents of cassis, mint, dark chocolate and loamy earth. There's enough oak to lend supporting structure, but it doesn't dominate the olfactory or gustatory facets of this wine, which is ripe and concentrated but also streamlined and silky, ending in a lingering, savory and complex finish. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2018 Grgich Hills Violetta Late Harvest Desert White Napa 375ml
Price: $69.00 Your Price: $60.72
Luscious, ripe fruit aromas of dried peach and candied orange slices follow through on the palate with undertones of sweet flowers, honey, and a hint of petrol. Accentuated by uplifting acidity, these dense, ripe fruit flavors beautifully balance the residual sugar. The finish is creamy and complex with a pleasant minerality on the aftertaste. Violetta is spectacular when paired with desserts, or served all by itself to end a special meal.
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