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. ...

maker and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

, founder of Selene Wines in

Napa, California Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County, California, Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California, United States. Located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the Bay Area, th ...

. 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 university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

, Klein was a professional chef in San Francisco. Mentored by well-known Napa Valley winemakers, Cathy Corison and Tony Soter, Klein has made wine for several critically acclaimed wineries including

Palmaz Vineyards Palmaz Vineyards is a Californian winery in the Napa Valley, primarily dedicated to Cabernet Sauvignon production. The estate is located on what was once the Cedar Knoll Vineyard Company, a pre prohibition winery, founded in 1881 by Henry Hagen, ...

, Chappellet Winery, Araujo Estate Wines, 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 (, Spanish for "Beautiful") is a beachfront city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Its population was 19,728 at the 2020 U.S. Census. The city is located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area; ...

. When she was a senior in

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

her family relocated to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. She worked at a

wine shop A liquor store is a retail business that predominantly sells prepackaged alcoholic beverages, including liquors (typically in bottles), wine or beer, usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom ...

in San Francisco. Klein was a

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

working in a

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

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 Station, an Australian base and research outpost in the Vestfold Hills * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Sa ...

, she worked at Chappellet Winery under winemaker Cathy Corison. 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 "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...

business, providing services to numerous

Napa Valley Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Napa County, California. The area was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on February 27, 1981, after a 1978 petition submitted by the Napa Valley Vin ...

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

, 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 a ...

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 , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

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

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 Lebano ...

, 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. ...

in tanks with skins being kept on for 21-days. The wine is aged in 70% new

French Oak barrels French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), a ...

. The Napa Valley Merlot's grapes are sourced from grapes in

St. Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

and near

Calistoga Calistoga may refer to: * Calistoga, California * Calistoga AVA, an American Viticultural Area that partly overlaps the town of Calistoga * Calistoga Water Company, bottled water brand sourced in Calistoga, California * Calistoga, code name for ...

. The Sauvignon blanc, Selene Sauvignon blanc, uses

Musqué ''Musqué'' is a French language, French term applied to certain variety (botany), varieties or clone (plant), clones of grapes used for making wine. The term means both perfumed ("musky") and Muscat (grape and wine), Muscat-like, and indicates t ...

grapes from the Hyde Vineyard in the

Carneros AVA Los Carneros (also known as Carneros) is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) which includes parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties in California, U.S.A. The area was recognized on September 18, 1983 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and ...

. 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 (flavor), tart-tasting malic acid, naturally present in grape must, is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid. Malolactic fermentation ...

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

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

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 People from Napa County, California American winemakers Living people Wine merchants American female winemakers 21st-century American women Year of birth missing (living people)