Walking the rows of Thomson Vineyards today, it is nearly impossible to imagine that just one year ago, every grape on this ranch — every single cluster — faced a fate no grower ever wants to consider.
In 2024, fourth-generation wine grower Jennifer Thomson watched as three hundred tons of grapes on her home ranch went unharvested. Not one ton had a buyer. Not one ton had a home.
It could have been the end of the story. Instead, Thomson decided it would be the beginning of a new one.
A Year of Unimaginable Loss
On a quiet hillside in Napa, Thomson still remembers standing among vines heavy with fruit — and feeling her stomach sink.
“This home ranch produces a little over 300 tons of grapes annually, and in 2024, nearly all of those 300 tons were dropped on the ground and went unharvested.”
For most farmers, that kind of loss would take generations to recover from. For Thomson, it became the fire that fueled the next chapter.
“Instead of that being the final chapter,” she says, “I got to work.”
An Unconventional Plan
Thomson’s plan was bold, unconventional and driven by sheer determination. Instead of waiting on a buyer to show up, she would go directly to the buyer she believed was the perfect fit for her fruit.
She had one woman in mind.
“I knew of Paula. I knew she was crafting some wonderful bubbles, and that she is restoring and breathing new life into her father’s project, maybe bringing it back to the forefront of Napa Valley’s sparkling wine. I am bound and determined to find her.”
That woman was Paula Kornell, a fourth-generation sparkling wine producer whose family helped shape Napa’s sparkling heritage.
Kornell launched her own label in 2017, carrying forward her father’s legacy. For Kornell, winemaking is not just a craft — it is part of her identity.
“The wine business is in your blood. My father used to say, ‘You have more sparkling burgundy in the old veins than you do blood.’ And so, you know, it is in your soul. Growing up here, you spend so much time trying to get out of here, and then you realize that the rest of your life you spend your time getting back into Napa Valley.”
Thomson admired Kornell’s work from afar. What she did not realize was that Kornell was closer than she ever imagined — literally down the road, not even 3,000' away.
A Chance Encounter in the Pouring Rain
Thomson finally found Kornell at a tasting event on a stormy day —an event Kornell recalls with a laugh.
“Pouring down rain and I am by myself. No one is showing up for this event and in comes this one,” she says.
That “one” was Thomson, arriving with purpose and a direct question.
“Paula, where are you sourcing these grapes from? It says Carneros, but like which vineyard?” Thomson asked.
When Kornell revealed the vineyard, Thomson immediately saw the opportunity.
“Paula, we have to find a way to work together. I would love to sell you grape. It is about the quality, it is about the terroir, but if you do not enjoy doing business with someone, you probably should not be in business with them,” Thomson said.
For Thomson, something was missing in Kornell’s previous sourcing arrangement.
“There was a story about the particular vineyard, but it was not from the ground up,” she says. “It was not from the dirt up, and it was not a person behind it. So this is entirely different.”
A partnership rooted in soil, legacy, and shared values — this was exactly what both women had been looking for.
The Power Duo: Two Women Preserving the Future
Thomson is one of the last remaining family farmers in Napa Valley who still grows grapes on land her family has tended for generations. That responsibility fuels her mission: uplifting other family farmers in the region — especially women.
“I think the story is being diluted,” she says. “And I think it is so important that news organizations like your own share with consumers. So they can seek out supporting those family farmers.”
The women she surrounds herself with share the same grit.
“We all drive tractors, we roll with our mud boots, but we truly love what we do and we truly respect the generations that have come before us,” Thomson says. “It is inspiring to be with a group of women who really believe in what they are doing for their family legacy.”
This female-driven partnership, Thomson says, is rare in the valley.
“Paula is a legend… and I too surrounded myself with other women grape growers who began assuming management roles within their own family. To really be able to find a partnership with Paula and recognize that maybe us as women grape growers have been fortunate enough to recreate what Paula started with her generation of women… it is exciting,” Thomson says.
Kornell says she feels the same.
“I am so proud to be working with Jennifer,” she says. “To be able to talk about her family heritage and the fact that we are both two women in this damn wine business in Napa Valley is really… it makes me very happy and excited about the future.”
A Father’s Legacy, A Daughter’s Determination
Thomson’s dad — the third generation — spent most of his life working an off-farm job to allow the vineyard to survive. Today, he gets to watch his daughter secure its future.
“I am thrilled because not only do I get to answer to my mentors who year after year said, ‘Why have you not done a deal with Paula?’ I can now say I have done a really wonderful deal with Paula.”
But for Thomson, the partnership is about more than business. She’s created her own group of close-knit family farmers in the area, other family farmers who just so happen to be women.
“It is about enjoying being in business with someone, and sharing with consumers that there are real people that do their own work. We drive our own tractors, haul our own fruit, write our own contracts,” she says. “We do not have a long payroll of people helping us do that.”
Together, Thomson and Kornell are bringing authentic, family-grown, California wine to consumers who crave stories rooted in the land and the people who care for it.
Writing the Next Chapter
What began as a heartbreaking harvest with no buyers has transformed into a revitalized future for Thomson Vineyards.
It took grit. It took going direct. It took knocking on a buyer’s door in the pouring rain.
And it took two women determined not to let their family stories fade away.
Today, they are writing a new chapter, one worth celebrating, one worth sharing and one that ensures the legacy of Napa’s true family farmers lives on.
