Gundlach-Bundschu Winery - One of California's Oldest

One of the oldest of the 23 wineries we visited during our October trip to California was Gundlach-Bundschu, which is located on the east side of the town of Sonoma, below hills of the Mayacamas Range, which separates the Sonoma and Napa Valleys.

Gundlach-Bundschu Winery (http://www.gunbun.com/) is over 150 years old. It is probably California’s oldest family-owned winery, and is currently operated by the sixth generation of the family. Its roots are in Bavaria. The property was purchased by in 1858 by Jacob Gundlach, a Bavarian immigrant whose father was a winemaker in Bavaria. He called his new property, “Rhinefarm.”

After purchasing the property, he returned to Bavaria and got married. Then he and his new wife traveled through Germany and France, where they purchased rootstock to plant on Rhinefarm.

Charles Bundschu, an immigrant from Mannheim, Germany, joined the winery in 1868. He later married Jacob Gundlach’s oldest daughter. Bundschu took over management of the winery after Gundlach retired. When Gundlach passed away, the winery became Gundlach-Bundschu.

The winery was devastated by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. At that time, the grapes were grown at Rhinefarm, but the winery was a block-long building in San Francisco. The fire resulting from the earthquake destroyed the winery, a million gallons of wine, and three of the family’s homes. The family began rebuilding their business from the Sonoma property.

Prohibition was also devastating to the family. They had to liquidate all but 130 acres of Rhinefarm. The winery was not reborn until 1973, and its first wines released in 1976. In that same year, it became one of the first California wineries to produce a varietal Merlot wine.

Over the years, the family reacquired much of the Rhinefarm property it had been forced to sell.

Gundlach-Bundschu Tasting Room

Another Part of the Tasting Room

The winery offers a tasting of six wines for $10. There are 12 wines on its tasting list. All but two are reds. The six wines we sampled ranged in taste from excellent to drinkable. I have listed below with each wine both the retail and the wine club price per bottle:

- 2009 Pinot Noir - drinkable - $34/$27.50

- 2008 Mountain Cuvée, 37% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 10% Petit Verdot, 7% Malbec, 5% Syrah  - nice - $24/$19.20

- 2008 Merlot - nice - $30/$24

- 2009 Tempranillo - very nice - $37/$29.60

- 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon - very nice - $40/$32

- 2008 Vintage Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc - excellent - $80/$64

The winery offers interesting-sounding tours of its vineyards and caves. The cave tour includes a barrel tasting.

Like many of the Sonoma and Napa wineries, Gundlach-Bundschu has facilities to cater to special events such as weddings. Its facilities include a cave dining room, a bungalow, a picnic arbor, a winery courtyard, and an outdoor amphitheater which can seat up to 500 people.