Big Max Chardonnay 2018

In 1942, the last Brown Bear was spotted in Northern California…at least that’s what we thought. Turns out that the kids who attended the Bar 49 Summer Camp on the Keith Family land (now known as Maxville) had a run in with a Brown Bear in the 60’s. He was legendary, the stuff of folklore…the subject of campfire circle stories for decades. His name was Big Max. The 1,000-acre Maxville Lake property is nestled within the Vaca Mountains in the Chiles Valley District of Napa Valley, California. In the 1960s, the land was used to host a nature-focused summer camp for children. Grapes were planted on the property in 1974, as part of the camp's agricultural program. Recognizing the quality of the grapes, a winery was built there in 1996, along with an extensive underground cave that can accommodate 2,000 barrels of wine. Maxville Lake purchased the property in 2014 and harvested its first vintage of grapes from the estate vineyards. They renovated the entire winery to be a cutting edge, state-of-the-art facility. The area's volcanic soil, high elevation and unique climate provide ideal grape-growing conditions. Maxville wines are hand-crafted by executive winemaker George Bursick, and are wines of remarkable quality and consistency.