Mike Grgich

17 December 2023, 09:47 PM

Piano*Dad

Mike Grgich

Dies at 100

Not a household name, unless you're "into" wine.

Grgich (born Miljenko Grgic) was the winemaker at Chateau Montelena who made the 1973 Chardonnay that won the 1976 blind tasting dubbed The Judgment of Paris.

He parted ways with Montelena to found his own winery called Grgich Hills.

I paid a visit in December of 1984 when they were still reasonably new. I couldn't afford their wines at that point, but I came home with a bottle opener! I can afford one now, ... on occasion.

18 December 2023, 12:19 AM

Steve Miller

I just watched that movie. A great story.

RIP.

18 December 2023, 07:47 AM

RealPlayer

I read the article; good story! I didn’t know before that his wine was the one that won over the French critics. I really should find the movie.

Another wine hero, this one on the east coast, was Dr. Konstantin Frank. A native of Russia, he pioneered the cultivation of European grape varieties in the eastern US. The common wisdom had been that the winters were too cold for those grapes, and winemakers were using French-American hybrids, usually regarded as inferior. Frank proved them wrong by successfully making beautiful rieslings and chardonnays. Now everyone is doing that.

My wife and I visited his winery in New York’s Finger Lakes many years ago. Frank was there and gave us a personal tasting in his outdoor gazebo!

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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray

18 December 2023, 08:40 AM

Mikhailoh

Met Grgich at his self-named winery. Nice guy.

Also met some of the Franks at their place in NY, but I believe Konstantin was retired by then. The BEST reislings.

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"A mob is a place where people go to get away from their conscience" Atticus Finch

18 December 2023, 08:52 AM

wtg

quote:
Originally posted by RealPlayer:
I read the article; good story! I didn’t know before that his wine was the one that won over the French critics. I really should find the movie.

Bottle Shock

https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/bottle-shock

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When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier

18 December 2023, 11:32 AM

Piano*Dad

The movie completely ignores Grgich and concentrates on Barrett, his partner.

It also turns a really fine underdog tale into a rather conventional and plodding love story.

Steven Spurrier, the wine merchant who set up the blind tasting, said that "there is hardly a word that is true in the script."

Spurrier set up a repeat match thirty years later, confident that the French would finally prevail. Again, Napa wines won.

18 December 2023, 01:23 PM

Mikhailoh

California wines do well in tastings. At the table it's a different story, at keast in my view. Too much California wine is a caricature of the varietal represented rather than a balanced food wine. This is especially true in lower end stuff, but hopefully that will change. Some west coast vintners are toning down the excesses of the past.

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"A mob is a place where people go to get away from their conscience" Atticus Finch

18 December 2023, 04:23 PM

RealPlayer

Mik — do you have names of any Calif. wineries making the more balanced wines?

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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray

18 December 2023, 06:02 PM

Piano*Dad

We have wineries in Virginia that I would say produce excellent food wines. They're not the old "Robert Parker" style smash-you-in-the-mouth fruit forward stuff. Heck, even Robert Parker has gotten past that phase, I think.

We recently enjoyed a wine dinner at one of them (Barboursville) that featured a vertical selection of their reserve Bordeaux blend which they call "Octagon." We had the 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2017 blends, which are all very different combinations of the usual grapes (they use mostly Cab Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, with an occasional bit of Cab Sauv tossed in).

The wines were paired with a variety of strong flavors and textures to show off how well they go with food.

The Menu!

18 December 2023, 09:45 PM

Mikhailoh

Hall comes to mind at the moment. MFR is fond of Butter chards from Jam cellars. I’ve never cared for it until the latest vintage where they have toned the sheer volume down. It’s a much more balanced wine and the chard fruit comes through nicely.

Calera’s wines stand out. BR Cohn is another. Seghesio’s zins tend to buck the huge jammy trend that ruined my favorite wines.

Right now I think the world’s best values are in lesser prestige Bordeaux from 2018-2020.

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"A mob is a place where people go to get away from their conscience" Atticus Finch

20 December 2023, 05:21 PM

RealPlayer

Thank you, Mik. I will look for those.

Some time ago there was a Times article about a Calif. winemaker going his own way, with more European profiles...can't recall which one.

Right now I am finding pleasant côtes du rhones and some lighter Italian reds.

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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray