From the time he was very young, Mitchell (Mitch) Katz has earnestly worked at perfecting the art of handcrafting exceptional wines. Mitch’s grandfather was Reginald Lord, a discerning home winemaker and Mitch’s first teacher. Considering home winemaking to be part of the family legacy, Mitch followed in his grandfather’s footsteps, but it wasn’t until he won a Best of Show in the amateur category at the Alameda County Wine Competition that he realized he wanted to pursue a career in winemaking. He founded Mitchell Katz Winery in 1998 to honor his grandfather and the family’s winemaking heritage.
Since then, vintage after vintage, the single vineyard varietals of Mitchell Katz Winery have an uncanny way of purely expressing the essence of the vineyard in which the wine was born. Mitch only uses the finest Livermore Valley grapes and personally selects all of his fruit. He also makes the final call as to the moment to pick at harvest. “It’s a collaborative effort between the growers and myself,” Mitch says. Then, through thoughtful decisions for fermentation and aging, Mitch guides the wines to maturity.
Each year, Mitchell Katz Winery wines garner many awards and acclaim for their extraordinary flavor, richness, and intensity. At the 2013 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition alone, Mitchell Katz wines won seven medals, including Gold for the 2005 Falling Star Tawny Port. Even more recently, in the 2014 California State Fair, Mitchell Katz wines were standouts again, with the 2011 Grimes Vines Sangiovese winning Best of Class under $40 and the 2011 Crackerbox Sangiovese winning Best of Class over $40. The 2012 Shadow Hills Vineyard Chardonnay also brought home Silver.
Mitch looks forward to having his two sons, Jackson and Wesley, join in the business and continue this living memorial to their great grandfather, who devoted more than a half century to winemaking.
For more information, visit mitchellkatzwinery.com.