The Glunz family story started in 1871 when Louis Glunz, age 17, left his country of Germany in pursuit of the American dream. With little more than the clothes he was wearing and the dream of starting his own business, Louis took a job as a deliveryman with Wacker & Birk, a Chicago brewery owned by prominent civic leader and businessman Charles H. Wacker. He worked hard, learned all he could about the brewery business and saved his wages to begin his own company.

In 1888, with a loan from the Wackers, Louis set up shop as a wine, beer and spirits merchant at Wells and Division streets where his grandchildren and great grandchildren continue to do business today.

In 1992, the third and fourth generations of the Glunz family opened their winery specializing in small batched fortified wines, including De La Costa. Today, the winery is located on 20 acres in the rolling hills of Paso Robles, California. The Glunz family ferments and bottles most of their wines in Paso but also continues packaging out of their Grayslake, IL location.