Joseph Heitz was a Napa Valley vintner and enologist who established Heitz Cellars in 1961. Born in 1919 in Princeton, Illinois, he worked on his family’s farm for 21 years before leaving to serve in World World II, after which he continued his education and received his bachelor’s degree in 1948 and master’s in 1959 from the University of California, Davis. While studying at UC Davis in the 1950s, he worked part time jobs in San Joaquin wineries and Beaulieu Vineyard in Rutherford, eventually securing a position as an enology instructor at Fresno State University. He became instrumental in setting up the enology program at Fresno State, and in 1961, he purchased a small winery that he slowly built into Heitz Cellars. In this interview, Heitz discusses his early work experiences and wartime service, the enology department at Fresno, the expansion of Heitz Cellars, and his involvement with wine industry organizations, such as The Wine Institute, the American Society of Enologists, and the Napa Valley Vintners. This interview is part of a group of interviews documenting the California wine industry.