[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 31 (Friday, February 16, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E201]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING RICHARD KUNDE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 16, 2018

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
life of Richard Kunde, who worked tirelessly to establish Sonoma County 
as a world-renowned wine community and food destination.
  Mr. Kunde was born on September 6, 1942 in Glen Ellen, California and 
grew up on the ranch that his German immigrant grandfather founded in 
1904. He graduated from the University of California, Davis in 1964 
with a bachelor's degree in viticulture and went on to earn a master's 
degree in horticulture in 1966.
  Mr. Kunde worked as a viticultural consultant and then Director of 
Grower Relations for the North Coast Grape Growers Association before 
purchasing Sonoma Grapevine Inc. in 1982. He transformed the Santa Rosa 
nursery into the largest grapevine nursery in the United States. At its 
height, the nursery produced as many as 14 million vines every year, 
which were planted at vineyards across California.
  Over his half-century career, Mr. Kunde promoted the California wine 
community in many ways. He co-founded the Sonoma County Grape Growers 
and was elected to serve as its first president in 1984. He also served 
as a Director and President of the Sonoma County Harvest Fair and held 
offices in the California Nurserymens Association and the California 
Association of Winegrape Growers. And, Mr. Kunde was the first to 
promote the concept of American Viticultural Areas within the region 
believing it was important to protect the quality and value of Sonoma 
County grapes.
  Mr. Kunde dedicated himself to the scientific development of 
California's wine community. He collaborated with the leading 
viticulturists, pathologists and entomologists at UC Davis to improve 
the quality and profitability of California wine grapes. Together, they 
grafted clonal budwood to produce superior grapes and created rootstock 
resistant to phylloxera, which strengthened the viability of our local 
and state wine communities, and beyond. To spread these new techniques, 
Mr. Kunde co-founded the Sonoma County Technical Group, which taught 
growers about the latest grape production research.
  Mr. Kunde was a celebrated philanthropist who, with his late wife 
Saralee McClelland Kunde, generously donated their time, money and 
energy to agricultural causes. The couple raised millions of dollars 
for agricultural education programs like 4-H, Future Farmers of 
America, and the Sonoma County Fair Foundation at an event space they 
built themselves, Richard's Grove and Saralee's Vineyard.
  In addition, the Kundes established a charitable trust to provide 
millions of dollars for agricultural education in years to come. 
Through the trust, the University of California, Davis received $1.5 
million for an endowed chair in the Department of Viticulture and 
Enology. Another beneficiary, the Sonoma County Fair Foundation 
received $1 million to establish the Saralee and Richard Kunde 
Education Fund, which will provide young people interested in 
agricultural careers paid internships at local dairies, farms, 
vineyards and wool-growing operations. Finally, the Youth Ag and 
Leadership Foundation of Sonoma County received $500,000 to foster the 
next generation of farmers and community leaders.
  On July 26, 2016, a grateful community came together to dedicate 
Saralee and Richard's Barn, a 12,000 square-foot facility that now 
hosts agricultural mentoring, training and education programs year-
round for at-risk and other youth. The barn, Saralee's dream project, 
was seeded with a $300,000 donation from Mr. Kunde. The Sonoma 
community came together to raise the rest of the $3 million 
construction cost.
  For all his efforts, Mr. Kunde received countless awards. He was 
named a Friend of Agriculture by the Sonoma County Harvest Fair, was 
inducted into the Sonoma County Farm Bureau Hall of Fame, won the 
Shining Star Award from the 4-H Foundation, and was recognized for 
Leadership in Agriculture by the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce. Of his 
many honors, Mr. Kunde was especially proud to have been named one of 
the 100 most influential Sonoma County people of the 20th Century by 
the Santa Rosa Press Democrat in 1999 and to have received the Award of 
Distinction from the University of California, Davis's College of 
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in 2008.
  Mr. Speaker, Richard Kunde is an icon in the national wine community, 
and I am proud to have called him my friend. It is therefore fitting 
and proper that we remember him here today.

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