Chronological Files
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Grgich Hills Cellar (California)
label: Collection Creator
content: Grgich, Mike (Miljenko)
label: Collection Creator
content: Chateau Montelena (California)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Mike Grgich Papers
label: See more items in
content: Mike Grgich Papers / Series 1: Personal Files
unitdate: label: Date
content: undated
label: Date
content: 1954-1992
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0923, Subseries 1.1
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Note that undated materials that appear to be associated with a year are filed at the rear of folders for those years.  Undated materials that were not found associated are in a separated folder titled "undated."

During his stay in Canada, 1956-1958, Grgich held a range of temporary jobs as documented in letters, drafts of tax return forms, job applications, and a membership card for Local 740 Club & Cabaret Union.  

The files for the years between 1958 and 1974 contain a wide variety of materials, including receipts for a new car (1961 Ford Falcon two door), workmen's compensation claims for a back injury, and class schedules and other materials documenting participation in University Extension classes in enology and viticulture at the University of California, Davis.  A printed version of a paper presented by Grgich, Howard Aronson, and master winemaker Andre Tchelistcheff to a meeting of the American Society of Enologists is dated June 27, 1964.  It describes the use of Millipore filters at Beaulieu Vineyard to remove bacteria, yeast, and other particles before bottling.  These folders include many handwritten drafts of letters responding to new employment opportunities.  (Grgich apparently hired typists to produce the final letters.)  These letters provide additional information about his work experience. 
 
Papers for 1974-1977 include information about various aspects of the California wine industry, for example, notices to the Wine Institute's Wine Quality Committee (of which Grgich was a member) and a financial report for the California Winegrower Foundation.  Other papers document local activities such as a 1977 public forum on a proposed "Napa Valley Grape Train" to alleviate problems associated with having become a leading "attraction to visitors," second only to Disneyland.  For 1976-1977 there are many documents relating to offers of sales of Napa Valley real estate.  

In December, 1976, or shortly thereafter, California wine writer Malcolm Herbert sent Grigich a four page article for comment based on a recent interview.  Grgich proposed his paragraph as an alternative to Herbert's original: "The winemaker of today needs all [the] science he can get plus many years of experience [sic] in order to refine and develop his own style and art of winemaking.  There are winemaker scientist[s] and winemaker artists.  It is the latter one I am striving to be." 
 
The 1976 Paris wine tasting increased Grgich's visibility both in the wine industry and in the wider community.  The files for 1977 document requests for interviews and appearances, for example wine seminars in Texas in June and July.  There also is a one page mimeographed program for the July 4, 1977, "Blessings and Groundbreaking for the Grgich Hills Cellar." 
 
The single folder of the chronological file after 1979 includes an eight page, handwritten memo by Grgich discussing his personal and business philosophy.  Apparently this was developed for a possible Wall Street Journal article.