Decoding the Mead Range of Maxwell Wines
The Maxwell winery has been family-run for three generations, making the Maxwell family a pioneer in the mead industry. Located out of McLaren Vale wine region, the South Australian company is currently owned and operated by Mark Maxwell. In the last 20 years, he has increased the vineyard holding to just under 100 acres, all now producing low cropping grapes for the estate label. The winery is best known for its production of red varieties in smaller quantities, however, it also grows Tempranillo, Grenache, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and the white variety Verdelho.
Their Story In 1970, Mark’s father Ken Maxwell and his wife Margaret started the family’s first commercial winery named Daringa Cellars, at the McLaren Vale property. The winery had a tiny production consisting mostly of red wines from the likes of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1979 Ken sold the winery and started a new 80-tonne winery called Maxwell Wines. When Ken started Daringa, he was of the belief that winemaking would be more cost-effective than growing grapes. The belief may have come from their Scottish background, starting with Ken’s father, William James Maxwell who travelled from Dumfries to carry out work as a sculptor in the 1880’s. Later in the early