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Gundlach Bundschu Commemorates 100th Anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

Sonoma | CA

SONOMA, Calif., March 20 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 18th, 2006, the Bundschu family of Gundlach Bundschu Winery will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire by retracing the path of events that shaped the course of their family's business and lives.

Founded in 1858, the thriving Gundlach Bundschu Wine Co. was headquartered in San Francisco, and enjoyed a reputation for producing high-quality wines from its Rhinefarm Vineyard in Sonoma. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake and subsequent fire that struck on April 18th consumed nearly 1 million gallons of wine, offices, the warehouse as well as the family home in Telegraph Hill.

The events of those four days were captured in devastating detail and eloquence in the letters of second-generation patriarch and poet Charles Bundschu upon reaching the safety of Sonoma five days later. Their livelihood destroyed, Gundlach Bundschu as they knew it was gone forever. Fortunately the family had Rhinefarm, where they made their home and harvested their 49th vintage just months after the disaster, something they have now done for 148 consecutive years.

The fifth, sixth and seventh generations of the Bundschu family will gather at 5:13 am to join the public ceremony at Lotta's Fountain, marking the exact time of the quake. Then the family will walk to key sites as they retrace the path of events and read from the historic family letters.

In one passage of his letters, Charles Bundschu explains that he had invited two friends staying at the Palace Hotel to dinner with the German Consul; a gathering that obviously never took place. In the evening, the family will honor that invitation 100 years late, hosting an intimate dinner at the Palace where the guest of honor will be the current German Consul General.

The Bundschu Family's story captured in this collection of letters is one of the few firsthand accounts of the earthquake still in existence today.

"This is such an important part of my family's history, and also the history of San Francisco," says Jeff Bundschu, president and sixth-generation vintner of Gundlach Bundschu. "It was a pivotal moment for all of us. Much of who we are today, as a family, a business and a community, can be traced back to 5:13 that morning."

Gundlach Bundschu is the oldest family-owned and operated winery in California, currently run by the sixth generation of the Bundschu family. The 320-acre estate vineyard was christened Rhinefarm in 1858 by Jacob Gundlach, who started the winery with son-in-law Charles Bundschu. This remarkable site at the base of the Mayacamas Mountain Range is located at the crossroads of the Sonoma Valley, Carneros and Napa Valley appellations. www.gunbun.com