A Man of the Soil – Leon Santoro: 1950-2009

Article and Photo by Frank Mangio
The wine world was saddened when one of its greats passed away January 22nd of a festering lung disease known as Pulminary Fibrosis. Leon Santoro and I used to stroll his vineyards at Orfila Winery in Escondido, his 30 some years of experience weaving a master’s touch to the grapes we tasted and the vines he described, as a father would to a son. The man that would deliver more than 1,300 medals for brilliant wines to Orfila, proving that fine wines could be produced in Southern California, left us much too soon.

Leon’s life started in Villa Santa Maria near Abruzzi, northeast of Rome. He was exposed to winemaking at an early age but was groomed to be a chef. He came to the U.S. at age 17 and earned a degree in chemistry. But wine was in his blood and he successfully applied for a junior winemaking job at Louis Martini Winery in the fabled Napa Valley of Calfornia. His next appointment was with the Stag’s Leap Winery owned by the famed winemaker Warren Winiarski, who had already established himself as a premier Cabernet Sauvignon producer by beating the French in the historic “Paris Tasting” of 1976. With Leon’s help, Stags Leap went on to win double gold in the London Wine Festival of 1978. Leon often called Winiarski his mentor.

I talked to the now retired Winiarski about this. “Leon made valuable contributions to our success. He was an exacting man with great commitment to vineyard management. He always looked at things differently and offered suggestions of great invention. We were fortunate to have the opportunity of his ideas to improve the winery.” Leon Santoro, (shown at Orfila Winery) sampling the ’05 Heritage Syrah.

After years of impressive performance in the Napa Valley, Leon turned his attention to a challenge in the little-known San Diego County wine country and in 1991 began his brilliant 2nd career in winemaking in what was to become Orfila Winery in Escondido. Allejandro Orfila purchased the winery in 1993 only because Leon assured him he would stay and transform the winery into a world-class fine wine vineyard and winery. “I saw in Leon a man of strong personality who loved winemaking. He was the only asset the winery had. I knew then we would make the perfect team,” Orfila said.

Leon proceeded to take out the existing Chardonnay and graft grapes suited to the land: Mediterranean style Syrah and Sangiovese from France and Italy. The 70 acre estate over the years took on a distinctly red look to it and shined in the spotlight when Leon was named the 2003 Winemaker of the Year by the prestigious California Travel Association. A year later, I began my friendship with Leon, writing about this man who made such beautiful wines.

In 2006, in the middle of one of our tasting room meetings, he offered me a sip of a wine he had been cultivating for some time and was releasing with the odd name of Viognier, Lot 45. It was a stunning white blend of 73% viognier, with some marsanne and rousanne, grapes from the Rhone Valley of France. I immediately knew it would be a sensation and made it one of my Top Ten Wines of 2006. Leon then took it to Bordeaux France for international competition and won a gold medal, then another in the San Francisco competition. His latest Viognier release, Lot 67, made my Top Ten in 2008.

Larry Himmel, a veteran broadcaster in San Diego and long-time family friend said of Leon.

“He was passionate not only about wine, he was passionate about family(Leon left his wife Carla and two small children, Ryan and Amy), and passionate about life. You met Leon once and he was your best friend. We became great buds over the years, sharing our stories and his amazing wines. When I lost my house in the wildfire (2007), next day Leon sent me the gift I needed most…a case of wine. Those bottles got my wife and I through some tough times.”

Linda Kissam, a respected wine marketer in Southern California called Leon “one of the most talented, charming and engaging personalities in the California wine business. Although he was fiercely competitive, there was a softer, huggable side the he allowed to come out whenever we would meet.”

In a signature message on a bottle of his Heritage Syrah, Leon wrote me on July 10th of last year when his condition was becoming worse, “To my dear friend Frank. Wishing you a happy and long life. Ciao, Leon Santoro.”

Wish you were still here Leon. We will miss you, but I know you’re happy in your new heavenly vineyard making fine wines that are strong and true.

A scholarship fund has been set up to help Carla and Leon’s children with their higher education. To learn more, contact Steve Harrington at 1st Pacific Bank, 3500 College Blvd, Oceanside, Ca. Phone 760-477-2970.


(Wine Bytes recommending wine events will return next week)

Frank Mangio is a renowned wine connoisseur, certified by Wine Spectator. His columns can be viewed here each week. He is one of the top wine commentators on the web. Email him at mangiompc@aol.com


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Leon Santoro: A Great Winemaker, and a Great Guy...

Article and photo by Janene Roberts (Wine Girl)

“You’re a romantic,” Leon Santoro tells me as I sit across from him in his office at Orfila Winery in Escondido.

“It takes one to know one,” I respond. He smiles and says, “These other people, they’re just about the money.”

Leon starts telling me stories and there are a lot of them. He takes me with him on his life’s trails as he traces his index finger along a map from Italy to New York to Napa Valley and finally to San Diego. He tells me he was learning his winemaking skills in areas that weren’t known for their wines until after he had already left. “You know,” Leon’s saying, “I’m not going to be around forever. You’re going to have to tell this winery’s stories.”

“Oh stop it,” I say.
“No, it’s true.”

Little did I know these were words of a dying man. On Thursday, January 22, 2009, Leon Santoro the award winning winemaker at Orfila Winery died at the age of 58 while awaiting a lung transplant. I was shocked, as most people that did business with him were.

“You know we all went back to Italy last summer,” his brother Paul Santoro is telling me after Leon’s funeral at the table where they have pictures of Leon and Paul and their family in Italy. “Our dad died just one month before on the same day, “he continues. “Leon was still doing business with his Blackberry in the hospital.”

“You’ve had a lot of losses,” I say. “I’m sorry.”

I tried not to cry when the contemporary singers at Grace Lutheran Church sang Amazing Grace, but my efforts didn’t work. I wasn’t the only one there with tears in my eyes. Leon affected a lot of lives with his big heart. The church had to set up folding chairs in the back of the chapel to seat all the people that were there for him. There were people from his son’s soccer team, from the church and the wine community.

Leon leaves behind a wife, and a young son and daughter. He also leaves behind a huge hole in the San Diego winemaking scene.