John Kautz, the son of German immigrants,
was born in the Lodi, California area and founded his
farming operations in 1952 with a few acres, his parents
acquired in 1941, along with some milk cows. For over
a decade, the farming operation consisted of very labor
intensive crops of such as tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers
and the like. It wasn’t until the late 1960’s
that Kautz Farms began growing winegrapes
John saw the future of wine in this now well-known
award-winning region and throughout the next three decades,
they planted extensive acreages of winegrapes. In fact,
they were the first growers to plant Chardonnay in the
Lodi area against all the experts’ recommendations.
In 1989, John and Gail Kautz, now joined by their four
children, began building Ironstone Vineyards Winery
and Caverns in the historic gold rush community of Murphys,
California. In 2003, they released Leaping Horse Vineyards
and added Sonoma Creek to the family’s holdings.
Today, the Kautz family has over 7,500 acres of winegrapes
and other properties and is the 8th largest family owned
and operated wineries in California. |
