Mia Klein is a

Californian wine California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted ''Vitis vinifera'' vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. I ...

maker and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

, founder of Selene Wines in

Napa, California Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California. Located in the North Bay region of the Bay Area, the city had a population of 77,480 as of the end of 2021. Napa is a major t ...

. Her career has spanned decades in the food and wine industry in both Northern and Southern California. Before studying

enology Oenology (also enology; ) is the science and study of wine and winemaking. Oenology is distinct from viticulture, which is the science of the growing, cultivation, and harvesting of grapes. The English word oenology derives from the Greek word ' ...

at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

, Klein was a professional chef in San Francisco. Mentored by well-known

Napa Valley wine Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...

makers,

Cathy Corison Cathy Corison is an American winemaker, entrepreneur and consultant. She specializes in Cabernet Sauvignon. Corison was the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' Winemaker of the Year in 2011. Personal life and education Cathy Corison grew up in Riversi ...

and Tony Soter, Klein has made wine for several critically acclaimed wineries including Palmaz Vineyards, Chappellet Winery,

Araujo Estate Wines Araujo Estate Wines (renamed Eisele Vineyard Estate in 2016) is a California winegrowing estate founded by Bart and Daphne Araujo. Located in Calistoga, California within both the Calistoga AVA, Calistoga and Napa Valley AVAs, the estate produces ...

, Cimarossa, Spottswoode, Viader, Dalla Valle Vineyard and Robert Pepi Winery. She is currently producing wine under her own-labeled, Selene, as well as producing wine for Bressler Winery and Boyanci.

Personal life and education

Mia Klein grew up in

Hermosa Beach, California Hermosa Beach (''Hermosa'', Spanish for "Beautiful") is a beachfront city in Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California, United States. Its population was 19,728 at the 2020 U.S. Census. The city is located in the South Bay region of th ...

. When she was a senior in

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

her family relocated to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, 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 List of Ca ...

. She worked at a

wine shop A liquor store is a retail shop that predominantly sells prepackaged liquors – typically in bottles – usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom, they may also be called an off-licence (i ...

in San Francisco. Klein was a

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

working in a

seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...

restaurant. While at work, she would taste wine, which invoked her interest in wine. She started studying

at the

, where she worked as a lab assistant for Professor Ann Noble. Klein graduated in 1983.

Career

After graduating from

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...

, she worked at Chappellet Winery under winemaker

. In the early 1980s she became assistant winemaker. After Chappellet, she worked at Robert Pepi Winery. She met Tony Soter, while working at Robert Pepi. Soter and Klein would go start a

consulting A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

business, providing services to numerous

Napa Valley Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...

wineries. Klein also worked at Dalla Valle Vineyard. She replaced winemaker Heidi Peterson Barrett at Dalla Valle. Klein was the first winemaker for Bressler Winery in 1999. She is the winemaker for Boyanci and Cimarossa Vineyards (since 2009James Brock
Napa Valley Winery Couple Embraces a Special Tasting Event That Will Bring Their Wines Right to Your Door in Texas
''Papercitymag.com'', 23 October 2020), and has provided consulting services to Palmaz Vineyards, Spottswoode, Viader and

cult wine Cult wines are wines for which dedicated groups of committed enthusiasts will pay large sums of money. Cult wines are often seen as trophy wines to be collected or as investment wine to be held rather than consumed. Because price is often seen ...

label Araujo. Soter left the consulting business in 1999 and Klein continues to consult.

Selene Wines

Klein started her own wine label, Selene Wines, in 1991. The label makes

Merlot Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the ...

Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in ...

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

, and a red wine blend. The Merlots are

macerated Maceration is the process of preparing foods through the softening or breaking into pieces using a liquid. Raw, dried or preserved fruit or vegetables are soaked in a liquid to soften the food, or absorb the flavor of the liquid into the food. I ...

in tanks with skins being kept on for 21-days. The wine is aged in 70% new French Oak barrels. The Napa Valley Merlot's grapes are sourced from grapes in

St. Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

and near Calistoga. The Sauvignon blanc, Selene Sauvignon blanc, uses

Musqué ''Musqué'' is a French term applied to certain varieties or clones of grapes used for making wine. The term means both perfumed ("musky") and Muscat-like, and indicates that the variety or clone is highly aromatic. The term ''musqué'' is usual ...

grapes from the Hyde Vineyard in the

Carneros AVA Los Carneros AVA (also known as Carneros AVA) is an American Viticultural Area which includes parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties in California, U.S.A. It is located north of San Pablo Bay. The proximity to the cool fog and breezes from t ...

. The first vintage was in 1992. The wine is not processed via

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 p ...

. It's fermented, in 40% to 50% new French oak barrels, and half in

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

barrels. The blend is called Chesler. The wines are made at the Laird Family Estate winery. A large portion of the Merlot and Sauvignon blanc wines are distributed to restaurants.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Mia American viticulturists Oenologists People from Hermosa Beach, California University of California, Davis alumni Wineries in Napa Valley People from Napa County, California American winemakers Living people Wine merchants American female winemakers Year of birth missing (living people)