Milan Maximovich, Sue Broadston and Scott Sterling Milan Maximovich

Milan Maximovichwas born in Milwaukee and worked as an aerospace engineer and a physical chemist at Lockheed. An amateur winemaker since the mid 1970s, he founded the Thunder Mountain Winery when he retired. He was a strong advocate of the Santa Cruz Mountains and made several appellation wines, including Cabernet from Beauregard and Bates Ranch, and Chardonnay from Bald Mountain Vineyard. He often used natural yeasts and little or no sulphites. The wines were regularly scored in the 90+ range by Wine Spectator and Robert Parker, and were on the wine list at top restaurants such as Windows on the World in the World Trade Centre and Charlie Trotter's in Chigago.

He also made a highly regarded sweet wine from plums, though this was never available at retail. The wines were made first at nearby Byington and later at the Mirassou facility in Livermore. In his book New California Wine, Matt Kramer described Thunder Mountain wines as "idiosyncratic; often a bit oaky, but equally often rewarding".

Milan died on May 11th, 2003. Sue and Scott attempted to keep the label going, but it closed soon afterwards and the remaining inventory was liquidated through Trader Joe's at a huge discount.

References

http://www2.jsonline.com/entree/col/jun01/schacol01062601.asp