Breathtaking and foreboding, the Sierra Nevada is an awesome and majestic mountain chain composed of solid granite. California’s state flower, the golden poppy, sprouts from the granite and paints the foothills of the Sierra Nevada with a brilliant splash of color.

The Mokelumne River was born in the Sierra Nevada’s granite passes. Over millennia, the river’s raging water carried decomposed granite west into the Central Valley of California, forming alluvial fans that comprise the renowned soils of an area known as the Lodi Appellation.

More than a century ago, settlers braved the harsh Sierra Nevada in search of a new life and staked their claims in Lodi’s rich, fertile soils. For generations, the Kautz Family has proudly farmed in Lodi and the Sierra Nevada’s rolling foothills. Their brand, Granite Hill Cellars, is an homage to the passion and pioneering spirit the Kautz Family has put into crafting beautiful wines forged from granite.