History

In 1847, Nicolas Carriger, the first American to grow wine grapes in Sonoma Valley, brought his family west from Missouri and purchased a large parcel of land west of town at the base of Sonoma Mountain.

On a spring morning 148 years later, Leslie and Mac McQuown walked onto a part of Carriger’s former property. They spoke as one: “Look at those trees!”

The magnificent valley oaks and bay laurels, which often elicit expressions of wonder, have anchored for centuries in a one-hundred-foot-deep mix of river rock and alluvium washed down from the mountain in Carriger Creek. These soils — plus southern Sonoma Valley’s climate cooled by marine influence from the Pacific Ocean and northern San Francisco Bay — make this site ideal for growing Cabernet Sauvignon grapes with Bordeaux-like character.

The McQuowns purchased the property, naming it for a century-old stone border around a bygone sheep pasture, and expanded the farm to its present-day 16 acres, with nearly five acres of vineyard as the centerpiece.

In 2004, Mac McQuown launched a new venture with his friend and previous winemaking associate, Jeff Baker, who brought expertise and a small mountain vineyard to the project. Phil Coturri, Sonoma’s preeminent organic viticulturist, completed the talented partnership at Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyards and Winery.