Mt. Brave

Mt. Brave pays tribute to the pioneers who ventured onto the rugged terrain of Mt. Veeder in the nineteenth century, and to the Wappo people, "the brave ones", who originally lived here. Captain Stalham Wing showed the first Mt. Veeder wine at the Napa County Fair in 1864. At 25 square miles, Mt. Veeder is the largest AVA in Napa Valley, yet only a fraction of it, less than 2%, is planted to vines. Winemaker Chris Carpenter, the same man behind Lokoya and Cardinale, works here with thin, stony soils of an ancient seabed at 1,400 to 1,800 feet. Everything must be harvested by hand. Worth knowing: Mt. Veeder often sits 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the valley floor below, thanks to cool air drawn up from San Pablo Bay.