The company was founded by Jacob Gundlach in 1858. Charles Bundschu, from Mannheim, Germany, joined the company in 1868, and became part of the family when he married Jacob Gundlach’s daughter Francisca in 1875. J. Gundlach &amp; Co. grew significantly over the next 30 years, distributing Rhine wines from its factory at the corner of Second Street and Bryant Street in what is now the Soma District in San Francisco, California and its headquarters nearby on Market Street at Second. There was a New York branch as well. After Jacob’s death in 1894, the company was renamed Gundlach Bundschu. By the time of the great earthquake of 1906 the company was a major international wine producer, distributing over 250,000 cases of mostly fortified wine per year.