Murphys, CA…The Kautz Family has been farming since 1923. With that experience comes an extensive awareness of the environment and challenges faced in agriculture and by our community. With that knowledge, the Kautz Family and Ironstone Vineyards have been a leader in sustainable agriculture and water management for many years.

From the beginning, the Kautz Family recognized the importance of the surrounding environment when we built and designed the landscape around our beautiful winery. During the development of the winery, many drought-tolerant plants were put into the landscaping design. The age and maturity of this landscaping allows less water demand by these plants.

Additionally, Ironstone has developed four separate lakes that support our landscaping and irrigation. These lakes collect water from natural underground springs and rainwater that is later used for irrigation. The water used to irrigate all of the landscaping surrounding the facility also funnels down to one of these lakes located at our beautiful Lakeside Park. The water in these lakes is then recycled for use throughout the winery and grounds.

Ironstone’s surrounding vineyards are watered through drip irrigation. Both the vineyards and pastures are all irrigated with reclaimed water provided to us in a mutual agreement with Murphys Sanitary District.

We have made every effort to not utilize ground water or excess agriculture water. The Kautz Family and Ironstone Vineyards will continue to make every effort to reduce our overall water usage and continue to work to increase our utilization of reclaimed and recycled water.