Declining wine consumption over the last six years has led major wine companies to close down wineries and production facilities.
The industry’s annual revenue has declined by $19.7 billion, or 21%, to $74.3 billion in 2025 since generating $94 billion in 2020, according to Silicon Valley Bank’s State of the US Wine Industry Report.
“Boomers are drinking less, and there are fewer of them every day,” wrote Rob McMillan, executive vice president and founder of the Silicon Valley Bank Wine Division, which is a division of First Citizens Bank.
The declining revenues and consumption have forced a Gundlach Bundschu winery spinoff in Sonoma Valley to shut down operations.
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Abbot’s Passage closes winery
Abbot’s Passage, a California winery spinoff from the iconic Gundlach Bundschu winery family, has closed down its operations after industry headwinds forced it out of business, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Glen Ellen, Calif.-based winery shuttered its business on June 28 after operating for about 10 years, as it could no longer survive the decline of visitors to the Sonoma Valley wine country and other industry challenges, owner Katie Bundschu told the Chronicle.
“It became increasingly challenging for the brand and hospitality experience to build the momentum we had envisioned,” Bundschu said in an email to the Chronicle.
Winery reduced hours in 2025
Abbot’s Passage had reduced its hours in 2025 and planned to increase them in the spring and summer months in 2026 but continued declines in visitor traffic made it difficult for the winery to justify increased hours from a business perspective.
Katie Bundschu, a sixth-generation member of the 168-year-old Gundlach Bundschu winery family, created Abbot’s Passage winery in 2016 and opened a tasting room in Sonoma, Calif., in 2017, which was known for its wines and mercantile store, featuring artisan goods, clothes, and jewelry.
Operations moved in 2020
Bundschu acquired a larger Glen Ellen winery in 2020 and moved all of the operations to the larger site, which included an old-growth vineyard planted in 1940 with Zinfandel vines, according to Abbot’s Passage’s website.
The new location was previously occupied by Madrone Winery and Valley of the Moon Winery at 777 Madrone Road in Glen Ellen.
About 25 years ago, this reporter remembers walking with friends from his apartment a block away to the Valley of the Moon tasting room to enjoy one of the best sparkling wines he’s ever tasted for just five bucks a glass.
The Glen Ellen Abbot’s Passage operation was more casual than the iconic Gundlach Bundschu winery, as it tried to attract young adults to its tasting room, Gundlach said. The facilities included picnic tables in an olive grove, shuffleboard courts, “grazing boards,” a photo booth, and mercantile sales that included items like wine tumblers, corkscrews, cheese plates, and Abbot’s Passage-branded thermos bottles.
Abbot’s Passage produced unconventional Rhone-inspired and co-fermented field blends, such as Sightline, which is a blend of Chenin Blanc and Verdejo, and The Crossing, which is Petit Verdot and Malbec.
Website still sells wine
The winery’s website still offers 15 varieties of its wines for sale, ranging from its 2024 Rosé of Zinfandel for $28, 2024 Sightline for $32, a 2024 Sangiovese for $35, 2021 Makeshift Red for $45, various field blends for $50, $60, and $65, 2016 The Crossing for $75, and 2015 Due West Cabernet Sauvignon for $85.
Abbot’s Passage has laid off staff since the 2020 move, Bundschu said. She said the winery hired staff anticipating growth but had to pull back during the wine industry downturn since its move.
“Since then, we’ve had to right size to adjust for our current business needs,” Bundschu said, according to the Chronicle.
Abbot’s Passage history:
- Founder Katie Bundschu opens Abbot’s Passage winery in Sonoma, Calif., in 2016.
- Abbot’s Passage acquires former Madrone Estate Winery/Valley of the Moon Winery in Glen Ellen, Calif., in 2020.
- Abbot’s Passage moves operations to Glen Ellen in 2020.
- Winery reduces hours in 2025.
- Abbot’s Passage closes its winery on June 28, 2026.
- Source: Abbot’s Passage.
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