The Mural

From the very beginning of my time in the wine business at Gundlach Bundschu Winery, I insisted that we recognize and honor the people who did the actual work. Cellar rats and vineyard workers working side by side for a common goal allowed our winery to be successful. The work required long hours in difficult conditions and none of us got paid much, but it generated pride, joy, and a sense of a job well done.

Jim Bundschu and I believed were it not for the labor and contributions of Hispanic workers, there would be no California wine industry. As the second trio of our Vintage Reserve label series, we decided draw upon Hispanic images to produce the labels. Chuck House loved the idea, and in his inimitable way did a deep dive into Mexican art. Chuck was most impressed with Mexican muralists and created three stunning labels for us.

In his research, he happened across a magical place in the Mission District of San Francisco. It was called Balmy Alley, was a block long, and featured dozens of murals painted by local artists. Chuck took me to Balmy Alley. It was glorious and beautiful. He introduced me to Ray Patlan, a muralist who actually lived in an apartment in Balmy Alley, and was one of the alley’s most prolific artists,

I was so enamored by Balmy Alley and its murals that I proposed a field trip for the winery. Jim Bundschu was all for it. We rented a bus, loaded it with cellar rats, vineyard workers, even interested office staff and drove to Balmy Alley. Ray Patlan met us there with his primary painting colleague, Eduardo Pineda, and the two of them told us the history of Balmy Alley and then led us on a tour through the Mission District to see all the murals available. From there we all went to a local restaurant for dinner. Heading home, the bus had engine troubles. We pulled into a parking lot, discovered a bowling alley, and went bowling for an hour until the bus was running again to take us home.

The field trip was a smashing success. Our staff loved it, especially that everyone working at the winery was invited to attend. Bundschu and I came up with a great idea. We’d get Ray and Eduardo to paint a mural at Gundlach Bundschu. We pitched them on the idea, settled on a price, and set about creating a mural that would honor the Hispanic contribution to the California wine industry, acknowledge Gundlach Bundschu’s historic importance, and show what made our approach to winemaking special.

The Mural: Prep

If you are going to do a mural, you need a canvas. We wanted the mural to be a major piece of art, so it had to be huge. Our idea was to build a wall around the tank farm of old dairy tanks that we used to make wine. Our wall would be eight feet high and 120 feet long. Ray and Eduardo were excited by our commitment.

At the time, my wife and I rented a small house on a two-acre parcel shared by our landlords, the Boninos. When I told Bob Bonino about our mural project, he introduced me to his previous tenant who worked as a mason. His name was Dave, and though he was semi-retired, he agreed to build our wall. It turned into a major endeavor, but Dave’s skill and expertise created the perfect canvas for our mural.

The first step was to dig trenches, use rebar and pour footings. Once the footings had cured, Dave slowly built the wall using concrete blocks and more rebar. At a certain height, he had to build a scaffold to continue. Dave built the entire wall by himself. He worked on it each day until he got tired, went home, and returned the next day until it was finished.

Dave was an incredible craftsman. His wall was straight, level and has already lasted almost 40 years. Once the concrete block wall was finished, cement trucks were brought in to fill up the holes in the concrete blocks. Dave is standing on the scaffold in a white T-shirt with one hand shading his eyes.

The wall was built. We whitewashed the entire thing with two coats of whitewash. It was ready for our artists.