Michael Grgich
name: label: Collection Interviewer
content: Edwards, Nanci
label: Collection Interviewer
content: Fleckner, John A., 1941-
label: Collection Interviewer
content: Green, Rayna, 1942- (Curator)
label: Collection Interviewer
content: Johnson, Paula, Curator
label: Collection Creator
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.)
setName: label: See more items in
content: American Wine Documentation Project
label: See more items in
content: American Wine Documentation Project / Series 4: Interviews / 4.1: Interviews and Abstracts
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1997-09-07
container: label: Container
content: Box 1, Folder 14
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Abstract

Michael Grgich (b.1923) is one of the most renown winemakers in Napa.  His life and work mirrored, and sometimes propelled, the vast changes that took place in the region's wine business since the late 1950s.  Over the course of his long career, Grgich worked with Napa' most legendary winemakers and received some of the world's most prestigious prizes for his wines.  He has been on the cutting edge of technological innovations in the field, including advances in cold sterilization and malolactic fermentation.  Since 1977, he has been co-owner, with Austin Hills, of Grgich Hills winery in Napa Valley.

In the interview, Grgich recounts his early influences, including stomping grapes to make wine as a child on his family's farm in Croatia and taking classes in enology and viticulture at the University of Zagreb.  Throughout the interview, he discusses how wine is an integral part of family life and the European culture in which he was raised.  

Through the sponsorship of Lee Stewart, Grgich arrived in Napa in 1958.  He describes his tenures under Andre Tchelistcheff at Bealieu Vineyard, where he served as chief chemist from 1959 to 1968 and with Robert Mondavi from 1968 to1972, when he joined with Jim Barrett to form Chateau Montelena winery.  Grgich addresses the top prize his 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay received at the 1976 Paris Tasting, the prize's impact on his life, and its historic significance for Napa Valley.  

He also addresses the operations of Grgich Hills, his efforts to start a winery in Croatia, and, more generally, about his favorite wines and the act of wine tasting.  He concludes with a discussion of the purchase of land in neighboring American Canyon, a topic which touches on water issues in the arid West.   Grgrich stated, "Everybody asked me, 'When are you going to retire?'," and I say, 'When I make perfect wine.' I know nobody can make perfect wine."