Amalia Mesa-Bains. Detail of Amalia Mesa-Bains's Corn Rain Altar at C. N. Gorman Museum, University of California, Davis, 1984. Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material on Chicano art, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Papers of a Croatian-born California winemaker documenting his career in the California wine industry since 1958, especially his years at Chateau Montelena winery (1972-1977) and the subsequent creation of the Grgich Hills Cellar winery (1977- ). There also are records of Grgich's immigration journey and materials about the evolution of the California wine industry. The papers include correspondence, business records, handwritten notes, publications, and a few photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The Mike Grgich Papers document his career in the California wine industry, especially his years at Chateau Montelena winery (1972-1977) and the subsequent creation of the Grgich Hills Cellars winery. There also are records of Grgich's immigration journey and materials about the evolution of the California wine industry. The papers include correspondence, business records, publications, handwritten notes, and a few photographs. Although the collection covers Grgich's life from young adulthood into the twenty-first century, the record is fragmentary, especially for the early years after his arrival in California in 1958.
The Grgich papers had no overall filing system when they were donated. The largest body of materials consists of personal files, arranged by the processing archivist into chronological and subject (topical) sub-series respecting, when possible, the original order of materials. Groups of materials directly related to Chateau Montelena and Grgich Cellars have been kept together but divided into chronological files and subject files. Publications constitute the fourth series. Further information on the organization of the collection is found below in the "System of Arrangement" note.
A single folder of photographs in Subseries 2 of Series 1 includes several snapshots of Grgich in a winery, two group photographs (likely of classes at the University of California-Davis), and several publicity shots. A few additional photographs are found in the Chateau Montelena publicity files and scattered elsewhere within the collection.
Series 3, Grgich Hills Cellars, 1976-2008, undated
Series 4, Publications, 1923, 1959-1996, undated
The Grgich papers were found in packing cartons in his garage and an adjacent storage area in his home in Calistoga, California. Mike Grgich had recently moved to the home. The papers had no discernible overall filing system. Papers found together in folders, mailing envelopes, and other enclosures have been kept together when they constituted a meaningful grouping. Grgich seems often to have retained materials as they accumulated over time. In arranging this collection, some of these materials have been organized chronologically by year. Some of Grgich's papers were found organized by topic or subject. These groupings have been retained; original folder or envelope titles or headings are given in quotation marks.
About one fourth of the collection consists of materials directly related to the Chateau Montelena and Grgich Hills wineries; some of these materials were found intermingled with purely personal papers while others were filed separately. These materials are grouped separately. Printed materials were sometimes found with loose documents inserted; these were maintained together within a folder when they appeared to be related and when no other location within the collection seemed apparent.
Biographical / Historical:
Miljenko Grgich, born April 1, 1923 in Desne, a small farming village in the Croatian region of Yugoslavia, was one of eleven children. His father, along with other agricultural activities, kept a small vineyard where the children helped in cultivation and winemaking. As a young man Grgich worked in a store in his hometown. He was drafted and served a year, 1944-1945, in the Yugoslav army.
Grgich entered the University of Zagreb in 1949, studying a range of science subjects and taking brief courses in English and Russian. In 1954 Grgich entered West Germany on a student visa but soon declared himself a refugee and "stateless" person. Unable to secure an American visa, he was quickly approved by Canada where he arrived in February, 1956.
Grgich lived for two years in British Columbia holding a variety of jobs while seeking admission to the United States. He began to use the name "Mike" during these years. In 1958 the pioneering wine maker Lee Stewart at Souverain Cellars responded to an "employment wanted" ad that Grgich placed in a California wine industry newsletter and on the basis of that offer Grgich was able to enter the country. Grgich has remained in the Napa Valley since that time. He married Tatjana Cizmic in 1962 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1964.
Between 1958 and 1972 Grgich worked at Souverain, the Christian Brothers winery, Beaulieu Vineyard, and Robert Mondavi winery. At Beaulieu Grgich worked under Andre Tchelistcheff, Napa's best known winemaker in this era. The two developed techniques for malolactic fermentation and microfiltration that became standards in the industry.
As Grgich developed his technical skills and winery experience he also nurtured an ambition to become head winemaker and co-owner in a winery. In the spring of 1972, Grgich joined Los Angeles attorney James Barrett, commercial real estate developer Ernest Hahn, and Napa Valley businessman Lee Pasich in forming Chateau Montelena winery. Passich and Grgich were "limited partners" while Barrett and Hahn were major investors. Barrett regularly visited the winery and was closely involved in its management. In three hectic months Grgich oversaw conversion of a nineteenth century winery building into a fully equipped modern facility which crushed its first grapes, purchased from various growers in the region, in September. Chateau Montelena also began to replant its vineyards in vines that would produce premium wines, a process that would take several years.
Chateau Montelena and Mike Grgich achieved international celebrity in May, 1976 when their 1973 Chardonnay wine topped a list of French and American wines at a highly publicized blind tasting in Paris. (The red wine winner was made by Warren Winiarski at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars about twenty-five miles further south in the Napa Valley.) Staged during the bicentennial year of the American Revolution, the Paris tasting confirmed and further contributed to the rise of premium winemaking in California and to changes in American wine consumption. In 1996, the National Museum of American History recognized the 1976 event with a symposium on the history of winemaking and the addition of wines from the winning vintages of the two wineries.
In the fall of 1976 Grgich began discussions leading to the creation of a new winery, Grgich Hills Cellar. In this venture he joined Austin Hills, grandson and great nephew of the founders of the Hills Bros. coffee business and a Columbia Business School MBA. Hills already owned a vineyard, and on July 4, 1977, they broke ground for the new wine production and storage facility in Rutherford. Grgich Hills at first specialized in white wines but added Cabernet Sauvignon in 1984. In 2006 the entire estate was certified organic, making it "the country's largest biodynamic winegrower." In 2007 the business was renamed Grgich Hills Estate ("in recognition that all of its wines now come from its own vineyards"). Today Mike Grgich remains involved in the business while his daughter, Violet, and nephew, Ivo Jeramaz, are active in day-to-day management.
Grigich never lost interest in his homeland, and in 1990 he returned there for the first time. In 1995 he received his degree in enology and viticulture from the University of Zagreb and the following year established a new winery, Grgić Vina, in Croatia. He has been a generous supporter of Roots of Peace, an international organization dedicated to the removal of landmines.
Sources:
George M. Taber, Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine (Scribner: 2005). Taber covered the Paris Tasting in 1976 for Time magazine. He interviewed Mike Grgich at length, and Grgich's annotated revisions of Taber's drafts about him are in this collection. Bottle Shock, a 2008 feature film, a highly fictionalized version of the story of Chateau Montelena and the Paris Tasting, is not based on this book.
Miljenko Grgich, "A Croatian-American Winemaker in the Napa Valley," an oral history conducted in 1992, in The Wine Spectator California Winemen Oral History Series, Regional Oral History Office, University of California, Berkeley http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/projects/food_wine/wine.html .
Mike Grgich Oral History Interview, September 7, 1997, American Wine Documentation Project, Archives Center, National Museum of American History (ACNMAH#817).
Mike Grgich: 50 Napa Valley Years (Grgich Hills Estate, 2008) (Series 3: Grgich Hills Cellar, box 8, folder 11) A twenty-seven page booklet published by the winery to celebrate Grgich's fifty years in Napa Valley, 1958-2008.
Related Materials:
The Division of Work and Industry holds artifacts donated by Mike Grgich, including a suitcase which he carried from Croatia, a blue beret, pocketknife, tasting cup, two spoons, boxed laboratory instrument, framed religious picture, ten books from Croatia on viticulture and enology, and an atlas of grape varieties. See Accession number 2006.0157 and 2006.3084.
The Division also holds examples of the wines from Chateau Montelena and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars that won the 1976 Paris Tasting. Accession numbers 1996.0028.01 and 1996.0029.01
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Mike Grgich, July 2, 2006.
Restrictions:
Conditions Governing Access: The collection is open for research use.
Physical Access: Researchers must use reference copies of audiovisual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Technical Access: Do not use original materials when available on reference video or audio tapes.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The Phillip Walker papers document his research and professional activities from 1969-2008 and primarily deal with his bioarchaeological research in California and his studies of primate feeding behavior and dentition. His involvement in issues surrounding the repatriation of Native American human remains, forensic work for public agencies dealing with human remains, and writings are also represented. The collection consists of research and project files, raw data and analysis, graphs and illustrations, photographs, and dental impressions.
Scope and Contents:
The Phillip Walker papers document his research and professional activities from 1969-2008 and undated and primarily deal with with his bioarchaeological research in California and his studies of primate feeding behavior and dentition. The collection consists of research and project files, raw data and analysis, graphs and illustrations, photographs, x-rays, and dental impressions.
Material documenting his involvement in issues surrounding the repatriation of human skeletal remains, forensic work for public agencies, and writings are also represented. There is limited material regarding the courses he taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara and his other research on pinniped butchering methods, an archaeological project in Mosfell, Iceland, and a project in the Aral Sea region.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in 7 series: Series 1. California projects and research, 1969-2003, undated; Series 2. Primate research, 1970-1988, 1997, undated; Series 3. Forensic work, 1980-2003, undated; Series 4. Repatriation work, 1987-1999; Series 5. Writings and academic material, 1974-2008, undated; Series 6. Other research, 1976-circa 2008, undated; Series 7. Slides, 1969-1998, undated.
Biographical Note:
Phillip L. Walker was a leading physical anthropologist and bioarchaeologist and a professor of anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Born in 1947 in Elkhart, Indiana, Walker graduated from the University of Chicago in 1973 with a Ph.D. in Anthropology. His doctoral work focused on the feeding behavior of great apes and included field work at the Yerkes Regional Primate Center in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1975, he completed field work in Guatemala studying the behavior of free-ranging New World monkeys.
Walker began teaching at UCSB in 1974 and became fascinated with the "enormous archaeological heritage of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands region, and the native peoples who occupied it." He started a research program on the bioarchaeology of the region and collaborated with other scholars as well as the Chumash community in the region. He "struck up a positive dialog with the Chumash tribe, developed friendships, and pioneered the notion that the living descendant community is a crucial player in research and learning about the past."
In the late 1980s and early 1990s Walker was active in the development and implementation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). He was a founding member of the U.S. Department of the Interior's NAGPRA review committee and the Smithsonian Institution's Native American Repatriation Review Committee.
In the late 1990s Walker was instrumental in launching the Global History of Health Project which focused on the investigation of regional and continental patterns of health and lifestyle through the study of human remains. In addition, he was the co-director of an archaeological project excavating a Viking settlement in Mosfell, Iceland and volunteered his forensic services to public agencies in California and Nevada.
Over the course of his career Walker authored more than 200 scholarly articles and reports. He died in 2009 at his home in Goleta, CA.
Source consulted: Larsen, Clark Spencer and Patricia M. Lambert. 2009. "Obituary: Phillip Lee Walker, 22 July 1947- 6 February 2009." American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 141:1-2
Chronology
1947 -- Born on July 22 in Elkhart, Indiana
Summer 1966 -- Archaeological fieldwork, Atlas, Illinois (Director, field laboratories in Human Osteology)
September 1969 -- Archaeological fieldwork, Northwestern Hudson Bay Tule Expedition, Northwest Territories, Canada
1970 -- B.A. Indiana University (Anthropology, minor in Zoology)
Summer 1970 -- Dental anthropological fieldwork, International Biological Program (Eskimo villages in Northern Alaska)
March 1971 -- Dental anthropological fieldwork, Gila River Indian Reservation (Pima), Arizona
1971 -- M.A. University of Chicago (Anthropology)
Summer 1971, Spring 1973 -- Primate Behavioral Research, Yerkes Regional Primate Center, Atlanta, Georgia
1973 -- Ph.D. University of Chicago (Anthropology)
1974 -- Lecturer, University of California, Davis
1974-2009 -- Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara
Summer 1975 -- Field study of the behavior of free-ranging New World monkeys in Guatemala
Summer 1982 -- Archaeological fieldwork, San Miguel Island
1991-1992 -- Chairman, Society for American Archaeology Task Force on Repatriation
1992-1997 -- Member, Department of the Interior Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Review Committee
2003-2005 -- President, American Association of Physical Anthropologists
2003-2009 -- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Summer 2006 -- Archaeological excavations, San Miguel Island
2009 -- Died on February 6 in Goleta, CA
Separated Materials:
Seven rolls of 16mm film (100' each), 3 rolls of Super 8mm film (50' each), and one small roll of Super 8mm film of primate behavior were transferred to the Human Studies Film Archive (accession number 2014-013).
Provenance:
These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Phillip Walker's wife, Cynthia Brock, in 2014.
Restrictions:
The Phillip Walker papers are open for research.
Requests to view forensic files are subject to review by the NAA. Forensic files can only be viewed in the National Anthropological Archives reading room. No copies are permitted unless permission is granted by the agency the report was written for.
Access to the Phillip Walker papers requires an appointment.
The collection documents Shimomura's work with the Japanese American Citizens' League in its efforts to seek redress for the internment of citizens of Japanese descent during World War II. The collection contains correspondence, especially with various chapters of JACL; reports; meeting minutes; business and financial records; convention materials; writings, notes, speeches and testimony; newsletters; campaign materials; clippings and articles; and travel papers for a JACL delegation to Japan.
Arrangement:
Collection is unarranged.
Biographical / Historical:
Born in 1948, Shimomura graduated from the University of California, Davis, law school in 1973. He has worked for the State of California for most of his legal career. From 1982 to 1984 he was President of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). During his presidency he worked to seek redress for citizens of Japanese descent who were interned during World War II.
Related Materials:
William Marutani Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives Center by Floyd Shimomura in 2016.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment -- 1942-1945 Search this
Concentration camps -- 1942-1945 -- United States Search this
Genre/Form:
Correspondence -- 1980-1990
Articles -- 1980-1990
Writings -- 1980-1990
Speeches -- 1980-1990
Minutes -- 1980-1990
Financial records -- 1980-1990
Clippings -- 1980-1990
Business records -- 1980-1990
Reports -- 1980-1990
Newsletters -- 1980-1990
Citation:
Floyd Shimomura Papers, 1978-2004 (bulk 1981-1984), Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.1376
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Roger Shimomura papers, 1959-2014. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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.
Collection Restrictions:
Conditions Governing Access: The collection is open for research use.
Physical Access: Researchers must use reference copies of audiovisual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Technical Access: Do not use original materials when available on reference video or audio tapes.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Mike Grgich Papers, 1923, 1929, 1950-2008, 2013 undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Conditions Governing Access: The collection is open for research use.
Physical Access: Researchers must use reference copies of audiovisual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Technical Access: Do not use original materials when available on reference video or audio tapes.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Mike Grgich Papers, 1923, 1929, 1950-2008, 2013 undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Conditions Governing Access: The collection is open for research use.
Physical Access: Researchers must use reference copies of audiovisual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Technical Access: Do not use original materials when available on reference video or audio tapes.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Mike Grgich Papers, 1923, 1929, 1950-2008, 2013 undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
