Leon Sobon ’58 and his wife, Shirley, founded Shenandoah Vineyards in 1977, helping to pioneer sustainable practices in the California wine industry. Shenandoah, based in Plymouth, CA, is one of the first environmentally friendly producers to distribute local wines widely outside the region.
Leon Sobon, who earned a bachelor’s degree in ceramic engineering from Alfred University, was a senior scientist for Lockheed Research Laboratory living in Los Altos, CA, when he began making wine as a hobby. In 1977, he and Shirley eventually moved their family of six children to the Sierra Foothills of Amador County to try professional winemaking.
Today, Shenandoah and Sobon Estates brand wines are available across around the world. The labels are renowned for their quality, which helped widen the recognition of Amador County and Sacramento regional wines. Sobon was honored last year with the 2024 California State Fair Lifetime Achievement Award, presented in recognition of a person, family, or institution that has been a pioneer and longtime contributor to the state’s wine trade.
Leon Sobon ’58 and his wife, Shirley
In a May 2024 story in Inside Sacramento, titled “Family Value: Price, Quality Make Sobon Wines a Global Winner,” he talked about the evolution of his sustainable wine-making practice, which focuses on land and soil preservation.
“Add only what the grapes need, nothing more. When you add things, it’ll all be organic material,” he commented, explaining the importance of composting the waste products—grape skins, seeds, and stems— from winemaking. “Not a bit goes into the landfill or garbage. It all gets put back into the soil.”
Sobon’s dedication to sustainability transformed the way winemakers in the region cultivated grapes. It is also reflected in the winery’s operations, which includes a photovoltaic solar system that provides most of the electricity needed to run the winery, office, and vineyards. White paper is shredded and added to the grape compost to aid in its breakdown. An electric vehicle charging station, powered by the solar panels, is available for winery visitors to use, free of charge, while they taste Shenandoah wines.
In 1989, Leon Sobon opened a second winery, Sobon Estates, also in Plymouth. Like Shenandoah Vineyards, Sobon Estate makes sustainability and responsible farming a cornerstone of its wine production. A second generation of the Sobon family—sons Paul (winemaker) and Robert Sobon (business manager) and son-in-law Tom Quinn (sales)—is involved in the business, carrying on Leon and Shirley’s legacy in the California winemaking industry.
