The Bundschu Family

In 1857, Bavarian-born Jacob Gundlach owned a successful brewery in San Francisco and looked to follow his father’s footsteps into winemaking. He purchased a 400-acre parcel of land in Sonoma and christened it Rhinefarm. The next year, Jacob traveled to his homeland and brought back European rootstock, along with his childhood sweetheart and new bride, Eva. Charles Bundschu joined the business in 1868, and married Jacob’s daughter Francisca in 1875. The next 30 years saw phenomenal growth for their wines. The 1906 earthquake and Prohibition caused setbacks, but the family rebuilt and replanted, and in 1973 Jim Bundschu resurrected the winery. In 2016, the family launched Abbot’s Passage, a brand honoring the Bundschu women. Today, the sixth generation (Jeff, Katie, Rob, and their spouses) continue the legacy, earning recognition for sustainable farming and being named one of Wine Enthusiast’s top 100 wines of the world in 2023.