In Recognition of the 100th Anniversary of Kunde Estate Winery and Vineyards

IN RECOGNITION OF THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF KUNDE ESTATE WINERY AND VINEYARDS -- (Extensions of Remarks - September 29, 2004)

SPEECH OF
HON. MIKE THOMPSON
OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2004

Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to four generations of a remarkable farming and winemaking family that has been producing award-winning California wines for 100 years.
Family patriarch Charles Louis Kunde immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1884, settling in Sonoma County, California. He grew Zinfandel grapes in Windsor for several years before acquiring the means to purchase the 650-acre Wildwood Ranch in Sonoma Valley in 1904. This site is the cornerstone of the family's current farming operation. Vines planted in 1882 on 28 acres of this initial purchase are still used to make the Kunde Century Vines Zinfandel.

The Kunde family won the first of many wine awards, including a gold medal for their estate Zinfandel, in 1915 at the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, the most prestigious pre-prohibition wine event in the country.
Arthur "Big Boy" Kunde took over operation of the winery and vineyards following his father's death in 1922. These were hard times for the family. Prohibition limited wine production to altar, sacramental and medicinal wines and the family had to diversify with a cattle ranching operation.

The original winery closed for good when Big Boy's two sons, Fred and Bob, were serving our country in World War II. The rest of the family continued to grow grapes and raise cattle to save the land.

After the war, the family continued to grow grapes and began to acquire land adjacent to their original ranch. Bob and Fred also began a meat cutting business on the ranch. They cut meat by night and planted vineyards by day.
By the mid 1980s the family had acquired nearly 2,000 acres of contiguous land surrounding the original purchase. The vineyards stretched from the floor of the Sonoma Valley to the Mayacamas Mountains. It was now time to rebuild the winery and Kunde Estate Winery opened its doors in 1990.

Today the winery produces 100,000 cases of wine annually. Ninety percent of the grapes are estate grown. There are 21 varietals and more than 100 clones grown on the estate property.

A new generation of winemakers, managers and growers: Kurt, Bill, Jeff, Keith and Marcia, the children of Bob and Fred, are carrying on the family tradition of fine wine making.

Mr. Speaker, the Kunde Estate Winery and Vineyards is celebrating its 100th Anniversary this year and it is appropriate that we honor them today.