The family has always set high standards in the business, but that certain something that really makes a GB wine is a little more elusive. It is timeworn family talent, effused with overall good humor and enthusiasm that permeates the Gundlach Bundschu tradition and carries the family through the best and worst that the years have to offer. Tracing the threads of a seven-generation history woven on and around Rhinefarm, one can't shake the sense that there's a bit of something akin to magic at work here: one might call it soul.
Bavarian-born Jacob Gundlach set sail for America in November 10, 1850 and arrived in San Francisco exactly one year later. This quiet man of action proved his mettle (and wine-savvy) during the voyage, when the boat was shipwrecked off the west coast of Africa. Not only did he rescue his shipmates, but enlivened their New Years Eve on the island by saving some wine from the sinking ship, and according to his journal, brewing a "very good punch." Within a year of arrival in San Francisco, he had established the Bavaria Brewery, which quickly became a San Francisco institution.
Following in his father's footsteps, Jacob next looked to winemaking: a relatively unexplored opportunity in America at this time. In 1857, he partnered with Emil Dresel to buy a 400-acre parcel of land in Sonoma, which they called Rhinefarm. (Only 11 years earlier this land had been under Mexican rule.) The next year, Jacob traveled to his homeland and brought back European rootstock for planting on Rhinefarm, along with a childhood-sweetheart bride named Eva. The first Rhinefarm Vintage was celebrated in 1861, and by this time, Jacob and Eva had a new baby daughter named Francisca.
Enter the dashing Charles Bundschu, from Mannheim, Germany, who brings his florid prose and keen business sense to the company in 1868. Emil Dresel dies the next year, leaving his portion of the farm to his brother Julius, and J. Gundlach & Co. is established. Charles marries Francisca in 1875. During these years, phylloxera becomes a major threat to vineyards throughout the state. Julius and Jacob's successful experiments to develop a resistant rootstock spare Rhinefarm from total devastation, and revolutionize viticultural methods.
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Red Wine
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White Wine
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Sparkling Wine & Champagne
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Kosher
Wine which is produced and bottled under strict supervision and meets all standards to be certified Kosher.
Organic
Wine which is produced using organic practices and is free of all synthetic chemicals, antibiotics, hormones and pesticides.
Biodynamic
Biodynamic designation is regulated by Demeter, an international certification organization. Biodynamic agriculture is based on the view of a farm as a self-contained organism. Certified organic vineyards must meet Demeter"s additional criteria for a period of one year before earning the designation "biodynamic."
Sustainably Grown
Sustainable practices incorporate organic standards and may exceed them and include ecologically and socially sound business practices such as fair pay for farm workers and energy conservation.
Screw Cap
Wines sealed with a screw cap as opposed to a cork, which experts report protects and preserves wine more effectively than does a cork, while also eliminating the possibility of cork taint.
No Sulfites
All wines naturally contain some sulfites, however wines that contain less than 10 parts per million sulfites are not required to include "Contains Sulfites" on their labels.
Futures
Wines that are still in the barrel and have yet to be bottled. Futures offer the opportunity to invest in a wine before it arrives in our store.
Pre-arrivals
Like futures, pre-arrivals are wines that have not yet arrived on our shelves, however they may or may not be a new release. Pre-arrivals may already be bottled and en route to our store.
Wine Advocate
The Wine Advocate is a bimonthly wine publication featuring the consumer advice of wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr. Initially titled The Baltimore-Washington Wine Advocate the first issue was published in 1978. Accepting no advertising, the newsletter publishes in excess of 7,500 reviews per year, utilizing Parker's rating system that employs a 50-100 point quality scale.
Wine Spectator
Wine Spectator is a lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertainment pieces. Each issue also includes from 400 to more than 1,000 wine reviews, which consist of wine ratings and tasting notes.
International Wine Cellar
Since 1997, the 100% subscriber-supported IWC has also been available in French and Japanese editions.
Wine Enthusiast
Wine Enthusiast Magazine is a lifestyle magazine covering wine, food, spirits, travel and entertaining topics. It was founded in 1988 by Adam and Sybil Strum and reaches 686,000 readers. Its wine ratings, conducted by reviewers in major wine-producing areas of the world, are considered an influential gauge for consumers and professionals in the wine industry.
Wine & Spirits
Wine and Spirits is America's practical guide to the straightforward, enlightened enjoyment of fine wine and and premium spirits. We have for 18 years served customers and marketers alike with a lively mix of wine reviews, features, profiles, food and wine pairings, new product introductions, travel pieces, history, opinion and wine business news.
Burghound
Burghound.com was the first of its kind to offer specialized, and more importantly, exhaustive coverage of a specific wine region. The first Issue was released in January of 2001 and there are now subscribers in more than 50 countries and nearly all 50 states. Allen Meadows spends over four months a year in Burgundy and visits more than 300 domaines during that time.
James Halliday
James is one of the world’s leading authorities on Australian wine, matching intelligent, honest reviews with unparalleled knowledge of, and passion for, the wine industry.
Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine
For thirty-five years, Connoisseurs’ Guide has been the authoritative voice of the California wine consumer. With readers in all fifty states and twenty foreign countries, the Guide is valued by wine lovers everywhere for its honesty and for it strong adherence to the principles of transparency, unbiased, hard-hitting opinions.
James Suckling
I rate wines using the 100-points scale. I have used this point system for close to 25 years. I still believe it is the simplest way to rate a wine, with its origins from grade school in the United States. A wine that I rate 90 points or more is outstanding (A), and worth buying. If I rate a wine 95 points or more (A+), it is a must buy.
View from the Cellar
View From the Cellar, an electronic wine newsletter published bi-monthly by John Gilman.
Wine Journal
Homepage for wine writer, Neal Martin's, "Diary of a Wine Writer".
Malt Advocate
Malt Advocate magazine is America's leading whisky magazine. It's the number one source for whisky information, education and entertainment for whisky enthusiasts.
The Rhone Report
Dedicated to the wines and grapes of the Rhone Valley
Wine Review Online
Wine Review Online was originally conceived by Publisher Robert Whitley as an all-encompassing platform for the many talented wine journalists he came across in his travels as wine columnist for the Creators Syndicate.
