Collection: Leo Stone
Behind Leo Steen Wines is Danish-born Leo Steen Hansen, who moved to California in 1999. As the son of the head chef at the Kryb-i-ly Inn between Middelfart and Kolding, he was apprenticed to master sommelier Orla Farmand at Munkebjerg at the age of 20. Later, he was head sommelier at Kong Hans in Copenhagen for a few years before traveling to California to further his education and perhaps fulfill his dream of making wine himself. He ended up in Sonoma and quickly got a job as a waiter, sommelier and wine buyer at Dry Creek Kitchen and Cyrus Restaurant in Healdsburg.
In 2002 he started working in the cellar at Stuhmuller Vineyards in Alexander Valley, where today, after completing his education as an oenologist, he is responsible for the vinification. A few years ago he started making a few wines under his own auspices (Leo Steen Wines), by finding grapes from selected plots in California and vinifying them himself. So far, this has resulted in a Chenin Blanc and a Syrah. The style is kept in the European taste, with good fruit and juice, but also with a good structure and a bite that suits the gastronomy in, for example, Denmark.
In 2002 he started working in the cellar at Stuhmuller Vineyards in Alexander Valley, where today, after completing his education as an oenologist, he is responsible for the vinification. A few years ago he started making a few wines under his own auspices (Leo Steen Wines), by finding grapes from selected plots in California and vinifying them himself. So far, this has resulted in a Chenin Blanc and a Syrah. The style is kept in the European taste, with good fruit and juice, but also with a good structure and a bite that suits the gastronomy in, for example, Denmark.