Grgich Hills Estate

Grgich Hills broke ground on July 4, 1977, in Rutherford, Napa Valley, a date its founders chose with deliberate symbolism. Miljenko "Mike" Grgich, a Croatian immigrant, joined forces with Austin Hills of the Hills Bros. Coffee Company and Austin's sister Mary Lee Hills to found the winery, originally named Grgich Hills Cellar. Just a year earlier, while serving as head winemaker at Chateau Montelena, Grgich had crafted the 1973 Chardonnay that took the top score at the 1976 Paris Tasting, organized by Steven Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher and held at Paris's InterContinental Hotel. Nine French judges blind-tasted the white wines; Grgich's Chardonnay scored 132 points, the highest total of any wine, red or white, in the tasting. On the winery's label, both founding families are represented equally: Mike chose the Croatian Coat of Arms, a red and white checkered shield that also appears on Croatia's national flag, while Austin Hills chose an element of the Hills family crest, a rearing horse holding a baton, marking the family's Hills Bros. Coffee heritage.

• Broke ground July 4, 1977, in Rutherford, Napa Valley; founders were Mike Grgich, Austin Hills, and Austin's sister Mary Lee Hills
• Mike Grgich's 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay scored 132 points, the highest of any wine, at the 1976 Judgment of Paris blind tasting organized by Steven Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher
• The winery's label represents both founding families equally: the Croatian Coat of Arms for Grgich, the Hills family crest's rearing horse for Hills
• Originally named Grgich Hills Cellar; renamed Grgich Hills Estate in 2007 when the winery became 100% estate grown

Grgich Hills Estate remains family-owned and is now led by the second generation. Violet Grgich, Mike's daughter, earned a BA in music at UC Davis and a Master of Music in harpsichord at Indiana University before joining the winery full-time in 1988; at 94 years of age, Mike retired as president in 2019 and passed the title to Violet, who today holds the title President & CEO. Ivo Jeramaz, Mike's nephew, came to the United States from Croatia in 1986 with his uncle's help and studied enology and viticulture at UC Davis; with nearly four decades in the business, he now serves as Winemaker & VP of Vineyards and Production. Sebastian Erggelet, who previously worked at OVID Napa Valley and Martin Estates, joined Grgich Hills in 2018 as Associate Winemaker and is now Winemaker. Austin Hills remains Chairman of the Board; he also serves as president of Hills Vineyard, which grows and distributes Dos Colinas olive oil. A third generation is already active in the business: Ivo's daughter Maja Jeramaz joined the sales team after graduating from UC Santa Cruz in 2015 and is now Manager, Export and CA Chains, while Ivo's sons Luke and Jake are also involved in the winery. Mike also founded a sister winery, Grgić Vina, on Croatia's Pelješac Peninsula, opened in 1996 with the help of Violet and Ivo.

• Violet Grgich joined full-time in 1988; named President in 2019 when Mike retired at 94; now President & CEO
• Ivo Jeramaz, Mike's nephew, arrived from Croatia in 1986; now Winemaker & VP of Vineyards and Production with nearly four decades in the business
• Sebastian Erggelet joined in 2018 from OVID Napa Valley and Martin Estates; now Winemaker
• Austin Hills remains Chairman of the Board; Maja, Luke and Jake, Ivo's children, represent a third generation in the business
• Sister winery Grgić Vina opened in 1996 on Croatia's Pelješac Peninsula, founded by Mike with Violet and Ivo

Grgich Hills farms 366 acres spread across five distinct estate vineyards. The largest and most southern, American Canyon, totals 118.7 acres on sandy ridges, sandy loam and clay loam, planted mostly in 1998 and 2000 to 33 acres of Sauvignon Blanc, 8 acres of Chardonnay, 2.4 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and 3.3 acres reserved for late-harvest varieties including Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Orange Muscat; slightly cooler temperatures and stronger winds than Carneros reduce the vines' vigor and concentrate the fruit. The 82-acre Carneros vineyard, on loamy, clay and fertile soil, is planted mostly to 56 acres of Chardonnay alongside Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc; its best blocks are reserved for the Paris Tasting Commemorative Chardonnay and Miljenko's Selection Chardonnay. The 34-acre Yountville vineyard, on gravelly loam and clay loam, grows classic Bordeaux varietals, with 29 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and 5 acres of Merlot; a 13-acre plot planted in 1959 holds what the estate describes as the second-oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines in Napa Valley, showcased in the Yountville Old Vine Cabernet Sauvignon, with a small, singularly selected portion crafted into the limited-production Paradise Block Old Vine Cabernet Sauvignon. The 18-acre Rutherford vineyard, planted mostly in 2000 on loamy soil around the winery itself, carries 17 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and 1 acre of Petit Verdot, grown in the appellation's "Rutherford Dust" terroir. The 35-acre Calistoga vineyard, on deep reddish loam, is planted to 22 acres of Zinfandel, 8 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, 3 acres of Petite Sirah and 2 acres of Crljenak Kaštelanski; 3 acres of the Zinfandel date to 1889 and are showcased in the Miljenko's Old Vine Zinfandel. The Crljenak Kaštelanski block was planted from a single cutting in 2012, taken from one of the last nine Crljenak plants in existence at the time.

• American Canyon: 118.7 acres, the largest and most southern vineyard; mostly Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, plus late-harvest varieties
• Carneros: 82 acres, mostly Chardonnay, reserved for the Paris Tasting Commemorative Chardonnay and Miljenko's Selection Chardonnay
• Yountville: 34 acres of Bordeaux varietals; a 13-acre block planted in 1959 is the estate's second-oldest Cabernet Sauvignon, source of the Paradise Block Old Vine Cabernet Sauvignon
• Rutherford: 18 acres around the winery, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with a small block of Petit Verdot
• Calistoga: 35 acres including 3 acres of 1889 Zinfandel and a 2-acre Crljenak Kaštelanski block planted from a single cutting in 2012

The five estate vineyards have been certified organic since 2006, and in December 2022 Grgich Hills became Regenerative Organic Certified at the Silver Level by the Regenerative Organic Alliance; all wines from the 2023 vintage forward, along with the estate's own olive oil, carry the certification. The estate is also California Certified Organic through CCOF and carries Napa Green's local sustainable certification, and partners with groups including the Napa Resource Conservation District, the Cal Poly Humboldt Owl Project and the Xerces Society on habitat and biodiversity research. Winemaking is built on 100% estate-grown fruit and native yeast fermentation; as Violet Grgich has put it, the vineyards are rich with "thousands of strains of native yeast found naturally on the grapes," unique to the estate's properties. The winery's most exclusive tier, Miljenko's Selections, showcases single-vineyard blocks personally selected by Mike Grgich and is reserved primarily for wine club members and winery visitors; the Legacy Selections tier, comprising single-vineyard and old-vine wines, represents the estate's highest level. Total production runs between roughly 65,000 and 70,000 cases a year. Since 2013, marking Mike Grgich's 90th birthday, the estate has released a Paris Tasting Commemorative Chardonnay each year, crafted in the style of the 1973 Chardonnay that won at the Judgment of Paris; for the tasting's 50th anniversary, the estate released the 2023 Paris '76 Chardonnay.

• Certified organic since 2006; Regenerative Organic Certified at the Silver Level by the Regenerative Organic Alliance since December 2022
• Also California Certified Organic (CCOF) and Napa Green certified; partners with the Napa Resource Conservation District, Cal Poly Humboldt Owl Project and Xerces Society, among others
• 100% estate-grown fruit and native yeast fermentation across the portfolio
• Annual production runs between roughly 65,000 and 70,000 cases
• Paris Tasting Commemorative Chardonnay released annually since 2013 (Mike Grgich's 90th birthday); the 2023 Paris '76 Chardonnay marked the tasting's 50th anniversary

Grgich Hills Estate occupies a singular position in American wine history because its founder's hands crafted the wine that changed global perceptions of California. The 1976 Judgment of Paris was not a minor trade event; Mike Grgich's Chardonnay outscored every other wine in the room, and the winery he built the following year proved that result was no fluke. Mike Grgich was inducted into the Vintners Hall of Fame in 2008 and, in 2018, won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional; a bottle of his 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, alongside his suitcase and signature beret, is held by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Miljenko "Mike" Grgich (1923-2023) remained active at the winery as an advisor and winemaker emeritus after handing the presidency to Violet in 2019. Today the estate's Regenerative Organic Certified farming across all 366 acres, its 2024 recognition among Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 Wines of the Year, and the 1889-planted Zinfandel and 2012-planted Crljenak Kaštelanski growing side by side in the Calistoga vineyard connect Napa Valley innovation directly to the Grgich family's Croatian heritage and a sister winery on the Dalmatian coast.

• Mike Grgich's 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay won the 1976 Judgment of Paris, a defining moment in American wine's international recognition
• Mike Grgich: Vintners Hall of Fame inductee (2008) and James Beard Award winner for Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional (2018)
• Regenerative Organic Certified at the Silver Level across all 366 estate acres since December 2022, building on organic certification held since 2006
• The Calistoga vineyard's 1889 Zinfandel and 2012-planted Crljenak Kaštelanski link Napa viticulture directly to Croatian wine heritage
• Continuous family ownership across two generations, with the founding Hills family still represented through Austin Hills's chairmanship

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://grgich.com/, https://grgich.com/story/, https://grgich.com/story/team-family/, https://grgich.com/story/timeline/, https://grgich.com/the-judgment-of-paris/, https://grgich.com/regenerative-farming/, https://grgich.com/regenerative-farming/estate-vineyards/, https://grgich.com/regenerative-farming/partnerships-certifications/, https://grgich.com/wines/, https://grgich.com/wines/paradise-block/, https://grgich.com/experiences/, https://grgich.com/collection/grgic-vina/, https://grgich.com/page-sitemap.xml. Secondary sources: The Napa Wine Project, San Francisco Chronicle (obituary), Wine Spectator (obituary). Last verified 2026-09-09. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs. Where two pages on the producer's own site disagree, the more specific, currently maintained page governs.