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Wesley Katz knows the rumor mill is swirling in the Livermore Valley. People were coming up to him while pouring at the wine auction last weekend, and they’ve been stopping by the winery that bears his late father’s name to ask if word around town was true.
Reserving a few minutes for me by phone Tuesday during this hectic harvest time, Wesley confirmed the difficult duality of the moment: The Mitchell Katz Winery property on South Vasco Road is listed for sale, and a big part of him hopes to keep the now-second-generation winery working “forever”.
“I can’t really quite pinpoint one reason, other than it feels like I’m killing myself with the amount of work I’m putting myself through,” 27-year-old Wesley told me. “I would love to keep this going and to develop my passion for this.”
“I’ve been doing this for two years now, and I now understand why my dad fell asleep after dinner during the Giants’ game most nights,” he said, through tears. “It’s just hard … It’s hard without him.”
Wesley is overseeing Mitchell Katz Winery as the winemaker and operator, pausing his budding firefighting career to explore his passion for wine-making and maintain their small family winery. After his father’s death in a car crash two years ago, Wesley co-owns the property and winery with his older brother Jackson Katz, whose career is in the wine industry out of the area.
“Not only did I lose my father, our business lost its owner,” Wesley said. “He did so much for the Livermore wine industry, and Livermore as a whole.”
“All he wanted to do was share his blessings with everyone, whether you wanted them or not,” Wesley said, with a laugh. “He was very famous for giving people things, not making them pay.”
While kind enough to confirm the legitimacy of the Redfin listing online and open up about his experience since losing his father, Wesley was understandably guarded against getting into too many specifics publicly about why the 11.85-acre property prominently situated at the corner of South Vasco and Tesla roads – including the main house, detached cottage, warehouse and vineyards – is on the market for $4.2 million as of Sept. 2.
So much seems to have come to a head this summer.
On June 24, the driver who caused the crash that killed Mitchell Katz weeks before his 60th birthday was sentenced in court after pleading no contest to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter.
Emilio Chambers Cruz, now 29, of Westley in Stanislaus County, was driving 64 mph in a 40 mph zone on East Avenue near Mitra Street two cars behind Mitchell on the afternoon of July 21, 2023 when he tried to pass both vehicles using a left-turn lane but clipped the median and crashed into the vintner’s SUV, which careened into a tree.
Cruz admitted at the scene he had recently smoked marijuana and initially told officers the middle car hit his Accord on the way by and caused him to hit Mitchell’s SUV, which police disproved, according to court records. The vintner sadly was not wearing a seat belt at the time.
Wesley still questions why the case took more than six months to charge and why it was only a misdemeanor count.
“The fact that they were discussing letting him clean up trash on the highway for a few months as punishment for killing my dad was a little outrageous,” Wesley told me, looking back at the time between when Cruz accepted the open-ended plea deal in May and the sentencing hearing a month later.
Ultimately, the victim impact statements of Wesley and Jackson and their mother, Mitchell’s ex-wife, persuaded Judge Stuart Hing more so than the support letters from Cruz’s partner and best friend.
The judge thought the defendant showed little to no remorse by his words and actions in the courtroom and outside, such as mocking the court on social media, Wesley recalled. “I don’t think a single person, including his attorney, believed what he was saying.”
Cruz was sentenced to 10 months in Santa Rita Jail, although he’d only serve half that time with good behavior and is pushing the court to release him to serve out his time in the California Conservation Corps.
Not long after the criminal case resolved, the somber second anniversary of Mitchell’s death passed.
Wesley, just 24 years old when his father was killed, was starting to establish himself as a firefighter in Calaveras County east of Stockton. With his now-wife living 30 minutes away in neighboring Amador County, Wesley would stay out there during work cycles but spend time in Livermore to help his dad at the winery on many off-duty periods.
He took his bereavement leave and other time off to grieve, yes, but to keep the wine operation going too (Mitchell died on the precipice of the 2023 harvest season). Some of his fellow firefighters donated leave to him as well as he navigated the tough aftermath.
But returning to firefighting while also running the winery proved too much, Wesley said, so he stepped away from Calaveras County in July 2024 – and he’s been focused solely on being the primary operator, winemaker and co-owner of Mitchell Katz Winery ever since.
The winery celebrated Wesley’s 27th birthday onsite and on social media this August, and then two weeks later remembered Mitchell as his birthday passed.
“Happy Birthday, Mitch. Today you would’ve been 62. We’re celebrating you the way you loved best — with a glass of wine and a little salami, your favorite snack,” the winery posted on Facebook on Aug. 27. “Your passion and spirit continue to pour into every bottle and every memory shared here. Cheers to you, Mitch!”
Suffice it to say it was a busy summer for Mitchell Katz Winery – and actually in a lot of positive ways, Wesley said, momentarily energized despite the physical and emotional fatigue during the interview.
“Summer concerts have been a hit,” he told me, noting that the closing show of the series is this Saturday (Sept. 27). From 5:30-8:30 p.m., Frankie Bones will be playing the music and Smashed Broz Burgers will be serving the food at the winery.
They’ve also been pushing to enter more wine contests during 2025 “to get their awards up to date”. Mitchell Katz Winery’s 2020 Livermore Valley Cabernet Franc Casa de Vinas earned Double Gold and Best of Category at the 2025 International Cabernet Franc Wine Festival earlier this year.
They also won Double Gold for 2022 Mt. Meenao Late Harvest Zinfandel in Late Harvest and Dessert Wines at Libation Media’s 2025 National Small Producer Wine Invitational last month.
And perhaps more importantly, the 2025 harvest is going very well so far.
“We just picked the Estate Cab. Absolutely perfect … the Cabernet Sangiovese, absolutely perfect,” Wesley told me before heading back to work that evening.
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the associate publisher and editorial director for the Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. His “What a Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly, Livermore Vine and DanvilleSanRamon.com.
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