History
Nicholas Carriger brought his family to Sonoma from Missouri in 1847. He purchased a 1,000-acre parcel a few miles west of the same plaza where the California Republic was born. Choosing his land both for its beauty and its well-drained soils, Carriger would become the first American to grow wine grapes in Sonoma Valley.
On a spring morning 148 years later, Leslie and Mac McQuown walked onto Carriger’s former property. They spoke with one v...