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Our Story: Four Generations of Farming in Carneros
In 1938, Jennie Ophelia Barnum Thomson purchased Parcel 14 on the subdivision map of Rancho Rincon de Los Carneros at a property tax auction. The very next day, she deeded the property to her husband, Matthew Alexander Thomson Jr., and father-in-law, Matthew Alexander Thomson Sr.
The family farmed pears, apples and prunes under the name M.A. Thomson. That tradition continued until 1976, when M.A. Thomson was the last grower in Napa County to hold a pear sales contract with California Canners and Growers.
What began in 1938 as an orchard would become an agricultural legacy spanning four generations.
Beginning in the 1940s, the Thomson family began pursuing an ambitious plan to develop a dependable agricultural water supply in traditionally dry-farmed Los Carneros.
By the 1950s, the reservoir and irrigation system the family had spent years planning and developing was put to work irrigating the Thomson orchards. The dependable water supply helped the family size pears for the fresh-fruit and canning markets, improving both the quality and economic reliability of the crop.
Thomson Vineyards became the first irrigated orchards and then vineyards in Los Carneros.
The story behind that water system, including decades of planning and the Thomson family's work with state and federal agencies, is part of the family's continuing commitment to the land.
Learn more → Water Stewardship
At just 12 years old, and the oldest of five siblings, George Alexander Thomson was responsible for spraying, agricultural reporting, cultivation, irrigation and delivering fruit.
At the time, harvest lasted approximately ten days. George's job was to deliver ten tons of fruit every day for ten days to the Southern Pacific Railroad station near what is now the intersection of Trancas Street and Redwood Road in Napa. From there, the fruit was shipped by rail across California.
George's knowledge of irrigation eventually led him to work for Rene di Rosa while still a junior in high school. Through his graduation from Sonoma State University, he was responsible for irrigation, rootstock planting, grafting and general vineyard management at di Rosa Vineyards.
Beginning in 1968, members of the M.A. Thomson family planted approximately 50 acres of vineyards on Cuttings Wharf Road, followed by another 30 acres in Los Carneros.
Matthew A. Thomson Jr., Mason Iund and Abbott Williams planted the land to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, beginning the family's transition from orchardists to winegrape growers.
In the late 1990s, just under three acres of Merlot were planted on Monticello Road, becoming known as G.A. Thomson Ranch.
Matthew A. Thomson Jr., then in his late seventies, eventually transferred responsibility for M.A. Thomson to his sons, George and Matthew Alston Thomson.
Between 2000 and 2011, George, known simply as “The Farmer” was solely responsible for the vineyards at Thomson Home Ranch on Los Carneros Avenue and G.A. Thomson Ranch on Monticello Road. He also regularly lent farming and harvest help to his stepbrother David Iund at Iund Vineyards of Carneros.
In their 70s, George and David could still be found on either property loading grapes by forklift, maneuvering tractors and three-bin trailers, or working on wellheads and electrical panels during the off-season.
Now approaching their 80s, each has retired to the extent that any farmer can truly “retire.”
They still check in on things, make sure nobody has left the parking brake on, and keep an eye out for low fluids in the equipment.
For the Thomson family, farming has never been simply an occupation. It is a knowledge, responsibility and more than a few habits passed from one generation to the next.
In 2009, George's oldest daughter, Jennifer R. Thomson, began her apprenticeship harvesting and hauling fruit alongside George and David.
Choosing what George calls “the absolute worst time to get into farming,” Jennifer single-handedly managed the 2011 harvest, one of Napa Valley's most challenging vintages in recent history.
By 2012, Jennifer had assumed full operation of both Thomson Home Ranch and G.A. Thomson Ranch. Just as her father and grandfather had done before her, she continued the family's tradition of lending farming and harvest support to David at his Cuttings Wharf vineyard.
In 2015, Jennifer purchased and planted nearly seven additional acres within the Los Carneros AVA. She named the property LiveWire Ranch, a reference to the high-voltage transmission lines spanning the property and carrying electricity toward Sonoma County.
LiveWire Ranch was planted to Chardonnay, expanding Thomson Vineyards' land holdings within Los Carneros.
In 2020, seven acres of Pinot Blanc were planted at Thomson Home Ranch, further diversifying the business.
By 2025, California's winegrape market was changing dramatically. With a depressed grape market and shifting consumer preferences affecting demand for Napa Valley Carneros Pinot Noir, Jennifer top-worked a portion of the family's Pinot Noir vines to Riesling.
The decision reflected the same willingness to adapt that had carried the farm from orchards to winegrapes generations earlier.
In 2026, Thomson Vineyards commercially produced its first wine: a Sparkling Riesling.
After 88 years of farming and growing fruit for others, a belief shared across generations of the Thomson family, that vertical integration was the only path forward, finally came to fruition.
The first commercial wine represented more than a new product. It marked another evolution of a family agricultural business that had moved from pears, apples and prunes to premium winegrapes and now, for the first time, to wine bearing the legacy of the land where it was grown.
Jennifer remains dedicated to the legacy of farming premium winegrapes in Napa Valley, just as three generations did before her, while championing the role of women in agriculture as her grandmother and great-grandmother did before her.
The crops have changed. Markets have changed. Generations have changed.
The family's commitment to farming has not.
When she isn't working with her hands in the vineyard, Jennifer wears her great-grandfather's signet ring, dating to the 1800s. Engraved upon it is the Thomson family crest and the simple words that have guided generations of the family: Honesty Is Good Policy.