Charles Bundschu

Charles Bundschu (1842 – September 30, 1910) was a German-born winemaker in San Francisco. Bundschu was part of the family that owns and operates the Gundlach Bundschu winery, located in Sonoma, California. The winery, established in 1858, is one of the oldest continuously family-owned wineries in California. Bundschu played an important role in maintaining and developing the winery through challenging times, including the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Early life

Bundschu was born in 1842, in Mannheim, North Baden, Germany. He went to a university in Germany.

Career

In 1862, Bundschu immigrated from Mannheim, Germany to San Francisco, California and was employed in the produce business. He met Jacob Gundlach (1850-1894), who had purchased of Rancho Huichica in Sonoma, California and established "Rhinefarm" vineyard and winery in 1858.

Bundschu joined the company in 1868. On September 9, 1875, he married Francisca, the daughter of Jacob Gundlach. The couple had six children.

Gundlach and Bundschu emerged as early vintners in California's winemaking industry. Bundschu studied the science of viticulture and applied it to the Rhinefarm winery. and later the California Promotion Committee. He helped found the Altenheim (German for Elder’s Home or old people’s home), in Fruitvale, Oakland, California, and was a member of the Bohemian Club. He was president of the Loring Singing Society and one of the founders and vice-president and director of the San Francisco Merchants' Association. He became a leader among German-American citizens in San Francisco, and was president of the German Benevolent Society. One of his last civic activities took place in July 1895, when he organize the German festival and ceremony at the installation of the Goethe–Schiller Monument in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

Bundschu published articles and periodicals on the cultivation of the California grapes. He was later known for his creative writings. The San Francisco Chronicle described him as "a poet of international fame, having written poems of real genius in both the English and German languages." Bundschu moved the winery operations from San Francisco to its vineyards in Sonoma. He spent the last years of his life building the business back to its former prominence.