Sonoma Wineries: Bartholomew Park Winery and Gundlach-Bundschu Winery
An allée of trees leads to the end of Castle Road and Bartholomew Park Winery, where stands a reconstruction of rather peculiar Pompeian villa that Count Harazsthy built in 1857. Just beyond, a Spanish colonial-style building houses a tasting room and a museum and photography gallery. One of the nicest picnic grounds at any California winery, the Wine Garden lies beneath a canopy of oaks. From here, hiking trails loop around the foothills and meadows, a wildflowery experience in the spring.
Continue your tour on the backroads to Gundlach-Bundschu Winery. A fortune-seeker during the California Gold Rush, Jacob Gundlach sailed to San Francisco in 1851 and moved to the Sonoma Valley in 1858 to build his Rhinefarm, where he plowed, behind a horse, the first Johannesburg Riesling vineyards in the state. His great-great-grandson, Jim Bundschu, and his sons, now run the winery, which continues to produce German varietals and estate-grown Merlots, Pinots, and Cabernets. There are oak shaded picnic grounds here and, in the summertime, an outdoor stage where Shakespeare plays are performed.
Bundschu is rumored to be one of the masked men who poured Sonoma wines into the glasses of passengers on the Napa Valley Wine Train . . .
Continue the Sonoma Winery Tour with Stops at Robledo Family Winery »
The article on this page is adapted from the book, Backroads of the California Wine Country by Karen Misuraca (www.karenmisuraca.com), published by Voyageur Press.
Photo Credit: The pictures on this page are by Lisa Moore. www.studioponderosa.com
