Grgich Hills Estate

Anyone familiar with Bottle Shock, the movie loosely based on the events of Steven Spurrier's 1976 Judgment of Paris, will know the central story focusing on the Jim and Bo Barrett father-son relationship as they overcame all odds to shock the world with the highest scoring wine at the historic tasting.  What those more familiar with the movie than the actual events may not know, is that the winemaker responsible for creating the winning wine (1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay), was actually Mike Grgich, founder of Grgich Hills Estates.  Part of the reason for the omission of the winemaker in the plot was, as the story goes, that Grgich did not fully support the project, and producers were not able to obtain his life rights.  Mike Grgich did, however, appear as an extra in the move.  Be that as it may, those familiar with the revered Napa Valley producer Grgich Hills Estate know that the Croatian born Miljenko Grgich went on to form his own wine legacy.  Only a year after the 1976 Paris tasting, Grgich teamed up with Austin Hills of Hills Bros. Coffee, to create Grgich Hills.  Their aim was to produce the highest quality wines from vineyards owned by Austin Hills in Rutherford, Napa Valley.  While Hills handled the business side of things, Mike Grgich went to work creating world-class wines, including the exquisite complex Chardonnays Grgich Hills is famous for.  As a side-note (returning briefly to Bottle Shock), Gustavo Brambila (played by Freddy Rodriguez in the movie) actually followed Grgich when he left Chateau Montelena and worked for him for many years until in 1999 he started his own Napa winery, Gustavo Thrace.

With his fabled wine-making history and ideally situated Napa vineyards, Grgich could have easily focused on  growth and expansion, but instead has decided to stay relatively small and put the emphasis on continuing quality improvement in vineyard and winery.  Central to Grgich's philosophy is that 'great wine always begins with exceptional fruit.' As part of that commitment, all of Grgich Hills' grapes are 100% estate grown in their organic and Biodynamic certified vineyards.  The 366 acres of vineyards spread through Rutherford, Carneros, Yountville, Calistoga, and American Canyon.  From these vineyards Grgich produces their celebrated Chardonnay, Fume Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, and a dessert wine named after Mike Grgich's daughter Violetta.

What I find interesting about Grgich's road to Biodynamic farming is that, as is the case with many other producers, the switch to Biodynamics grew out of crisis.  This seems to be a recurring theme in the history of Biodynamic farming, as Rodolf Steiner's movement itself was a response to a serious 1920's agricultural plight in Europe, the result of overuse of chemical fertilizers.  In 2003 44 year old Cabernet Sauvignon Vines in Grgich's Yountville Vineyards were badly infected with red leaf virus, and experts recommended that they be pulled out.  In a desperate attempt to save the vines, the decision was made to make the swithch to Biodynamic farming.  Not only did the vines recover, but the quality of fruit improved to such an extent, that Grgich Hills decided to convert all 366 acres of their vineyards to Biodynamic methods.  By 2006 the conversion was complete, and all the vineyards are now certified Biodynamic by Demeter.  Sometimes, I must admit, even I an ardent proponent of Biodynamics, amid frequent criticism of some of the more mystical elements, forget what solid practical footing underpins its practices.  It is always nice to see a producer provide clearly stated, down-to earth information about what Biodynamics entails in their vineyard work.  Grgich Hills has created a very useful and concise list of some of the main elements of Biodynamics and how it differs form organic practices.  I thought is might be useful to reproduce this list here for our edification:



KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NOP ORGANIC* AND DEMETER BIODYNAMIC®

History
-National Organic Program (NOP) established in US in 2002
-Demeter established in Europe in 1928, and in the US in 1985

Use of imported materials
-NOP permits imported organic fertilizers and pesticides
-Biodynamic reduces imported materials by addressing its needs from within the farming system

Fertility delivered via a nutrient rich soil component, called humus, created by the:
-Integration of livestock
-Intensive use of green manure (cover crops grown to add nutrients to soil) and legumes
-Rotation of crops
-Application of field/compost sprays

Pest and Disease Control
-Creation of biologically diverse habitat encourages balanced predator prey relationships
-Humus development contributes to insect and disease resistance
Water:
-Increased humus levels result in soil’s ability to store water
-Preservation of riparian areas emphasized

Livestock feed source
-NOP allows for organic feed imported to the farm from anywhere in the world
-Biodynamic requires 80% of livestock feed be grown on farm.
Biodiversity requirements
-No specific NOP requirement
-Biodynamic requires a biodiversity set- aside of ten percent of the total farm acreage

Farm certification
-NOP is crop focused and allows for a designated parcel to be certified
-Biodynamic is farm focused and requires that the whole farm be certified

Product certification
-NOP processing standard is applied across product types and focuses primarily on ingredients used
-12 Biodynamic processing standards, developed for specific product types, require minimal manipulation so that the
agricultural ingredients used define the product

I don't know if it is that Biodynamic producers just develop an intuitive trust in the power of the sun because of the wonderful results they see it produce in their fruit, but Grgich Hills Estate, like many other Biodynamic producers, has taken its earth-friendly production practices outside of the vineyard, using the sun's energy to supply almost 100% of its electrical needs.  860 photovoltaic panels covering the winery's red tile roof provide a renewable, pollutant-free energy source in line with Gergich's overall philosophy of sustainablility.  

Seeing wine producers do everything in their power to produce wines in a natural, sustainable, earth-friendly way is always encouraging.  But in the end the quality of the wine must, of course, be the ultimate measure of success.  Judging by the many accolades Grgich Hills Estate wines have garnered over the years, and continue to garner today, I would say they are doing a pretty good job of measuring up.  Below are just a few of the high scores and other honors some of Grgich's wines have collected for their recent vintages:  

2007, 2008 Chardonnay - Stephen Tanzer  90 points

2007 Chardonnay served at the White House executive residence

2007 Carneros Selection Chardonnay - Tasting Panel  94 points

2008 Zinfandel - Wine & Spirits  91 points

2005 Miljenko's Old Vine Zinfandel - Wine News (wine of the year)  95 points

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon - Michael Apstein  96 points

2006, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon - Robert Whitley  96 points

2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, Yountville Selection - Wine News  94 points

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley - Wine Spectator  92 points

2008 Violetta late harvest - Wine Spectator 90 points

Grgich Hills Estate  (link)

* Some information about the movie Bottle Shock was sourced from WineCountry.com.