Leon Santoro
Leon Santoro (died 2009) began his career in the Napa Valley in the late 1970s, first at the Louis M. Martini and then Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars before joining Quail Ridge as co-owner and winemaker in 1981. In 1991, Santoro relocated to San Diego County to become winemaker at what was then Thomas Jaeger winery. He stayed on when Alejandro Orfila, former secretary general of the Organization of American States and Argentine ambassador to the United States, purchased the winery and renamed it Orfila Vineyards. Santoro was instrumental in convincing growers in both San Diego and Riverside counties to focus on Mediterranean wine grape varieties that he believed would best express the terroir of Southern California’s winegrowing regions. He played an important role in asserting that fine wine could be produced in Southern California’s soils and climate.
Date of Interview
Interviewer
2002-05-22
Danette Cook Adamson
Project
Program/Repository
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So that’s how I got into the wine business, in a way. From the back door, from my grandmother being a wine maker.