Gundlach Bundschu, one of California’s oldest wineries, files for bankruptcy

Gundlach Bundschu Winery, one of the oldest wineries in California, filed for bankruptcy Wednesday.

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The winery, founded in 1858, has about $39 million in debt, court records show, and has seen years of operational and financial restructuring.

Jeff Bundschu, CEO of Gundlach Bundschu and a member of the family’s sixth generation of winemakers, called the bankruptcy “unprecedented” for his family and the company in a court filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California.

“The Company has endured more than a century and a half of historic challenges and transformational change,” Bundschu said. “We enter this process with great humility and remorse for the burden the Company’s financial distress places on our employees, vendors, lenders, customers, and community.”

The San Francisco Chronicle was the first to report the winery’s bankruptcy.

In a statement shared with other news outlets, the Bundschu family said it attributes its financial challenges to the struggling wine market and debt from a 2020 purchase. That purchase was Abbott’s Passage Winery and Mercantile, a winery estate which shut down earlier this year, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The purchase came on the heels of a fire and just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, both of which disrupted operations, court records show.

Read more Gundlach Bundschu, one of California’s oldest wineries, files for bankruptcy

Gundlach Bundschu has identified a prospective investor and operating partner and “believes their financial resources and expertise supporting the company’s historic estate, recognized brands, loyal customers, experienced employees, key vendor and distributor relationships, and streamlined operating platform will enable the completion of this reorganization and provide a rebuilt platform for long term prosperity,” court records show. The filing does not name the investor.

“This is about creating a fair, court-supervised process that gives this historic business an opportunity to survive, preserve jobs, protect relationships with customers and vendors, and ensure the winery remains a meaningful part of the Sonoma Valley community,” Bundschu said in the statement to other news outlets.

Gundloch Bundschu’s annoucement comes not long after the for sale sign went up at California winery, McManis Family Vineyards. The 3,500-acre property in San Joaquin and Sacramento counties was founded in 1990. Its owners, fourth-generation farmers, have also wrestled with the downturn in wine sales, including a dropoff in exports because of the U.S. trade war with Canada. The winery and its vineyards are on the market for tens of millions of dollars.

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This story was originally published September 24, 2026 at 10:49 AM.