Richard Hartshorne Graff (1937–1998) was a Californian

winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to dete ...

Early life

Born on January 20, 1937, Graff grew up in the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

suburb of Danville. His first passion was music, culminating in a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

from Harvard. While at Harvard he restored an entire theater organ in a local

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

movie theater. After attending Navy OCS, he served on the USS Cogswell - a destroyer in the Pacific, earning a commendation as a gunnery officer. He and his family purchased

Chalone Vineyard Chalone Vineyard is located in the Chalone AVA south of San Francisco, California, United States, on an unusual geological formation called the Gavilan benchland. The soil is rich in limestone and calcium carbonate and also contains a signifi ...

in 1965. In the

Judgment of Paris Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as ''adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotle ...

wine competition A wine competition is an organized event in which trained judges or consumers competitively rate different vintages, categories, and/or brands of wine. Wine competitions generally use blind tasting of wine to prevent bias by the judges. Types of ...

, it was ranked third out of ten.

Winemaking

The vineyard grew into the Chalone Wine Group now owned by Diageo. Graff was one of the first to bring barrel fermentation and aging to the California winemaking industry. He also initiated the practice of

malolactic fermentation Malolactic conversion (also known as malolactic fermentation or MLF) is a process in winemaking in which tart-tasting malic acid, naturally present in grape must, is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid. Malolactic fermentation is most often ...

of white wines as well as the importation of French oak barrels into the United States. Graff said "I insist upon the traditional techniques for raising wine which entail minimal handling, so that what comes from the vineyard is carried intact through fermentation and aging, clarification and bottling, into the wine glass." With his good friends Julia Child and

Robert Mondavi Robert Gerald Mondavi (June 18, 1913 – May 16, 2008) was an American winemaker. His technical and marketing strategies brought worldwide recognition for the wines of the Napa Valley in California. From an early period, Mondavi promoted label ...

, he founded the

American Institute of Wine & Food The American Institute of Wine & Food is a non-profit organization dedicated to gastronomy and food culture. The Institute was founded in 1981 by a group of food industry professionals and enthusiasts, including Julia Child and Robert Mondavi. Toda ...

(AIWF).

Death

Richard Graff was killed when his

Cessna 182 The Cessna 182 Skylane is an American four-seat, single-engined light airplane built by Cessna of Wichita, Kansas. It has the option of adding two child seats in the baggage area. Introduced in 1956, the 182 has been produced in a ...

airplane crashed due to engine failure on January 9, 1998. After his death, the Richard H. Graff Scholarship Fund was established which is funded by the sales of Graff Family Vineyards wines and provides scholarships to food and wine students.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graff, Richard 1937 births 1998 deaths Accidental deaths in California American winemakers Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Harvard University alumni Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1998 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Wine merchants 20th-century American businesspeople

Early life

Winemaking

Death

See also

References