Lionheart Wines Founder Leon Glover on Winemaking, Food & Wine Pairing, and Launching a Wine Brand

IntoWine recently sat down with Lionheart Wines Founder Leon Glover to discuss his foray into winemaking, his focus on food friendly wines, and his nascent wine brand, Lionheart Wines. A wine collector for 21 years, he completed the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Diploma certification in 2008 (AIWS) with plans to enter the Master of Wine program in the next couple of years in an effort to further his wine knowledge and help train his palate for winemaking. He has been a judge at several wine competitions such as the Pinot Noir Shootout, Cabernet Sauvignon Shootout and looks for more wine judging opportunities in the future. Merging his professional career in high tech and entrepreneurship, his current technology project is a new search engine focused on wine and wine & food pairing recommendations. In 2006, Leon and his wife, Jennifer, started Lionheart Wines with the idea of producing premium quality yet affordable food-friendly wines to be shared with friends and family.

What inspired the name Lionheart Wines?

The name, Lionheart Wines, was picked for several reasons: 1) Lions and the name Leon have been connected in my family for many generations, 2) I wanted the name to be easy to say and memorable, 3) the brand name must have a positive meaning and connection with the wines – bold, powerful, memorable, and exceptional courage, and 4) a good source of imagery for promotional purposes.

Lionheart wines are made to be part of great food and wine pairings to be shared with friends and family – bold combinations for those adventurous people willing to try an up and coming brand.

How did your foray into winemaking come about?

My interest in winemaking started when I started collecting wine with my father’s encouragement. The variety of wine in the world has always intrigued me and encouraged me to seek out new varietals, production techniques and wine growing regions. I educated myself by reading a wide range of wine information sources and training my palate with extensive wine tasting.

My opportunity to start making wine came about as a gift from my ex-wife – adopting a barrel of syrah at Crushpad in December 2005. The experience of selecting the blend for the barrel, selecting the barrel for aging, and bottling got me hooked on winemaking. Crushpad, a custom crush facility, provided a great place to learn about the theory and practical elements of winemaking. I worked as a cellar rat for two harvests focusing on the red wine fermentations – Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Petite Verdot, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Pinot Noir, and Sangiovese. I also got to work with many white wine varietals – Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. The delicacy of Marsanne and Roussanne have made them some of my favorite varietals to enjoy and produce.

Describe your winemaking philosophy:

Lionheart Wines was started with the philosophy of producing excellent premium affordable boutique wines to be shared with friends and family over great meals. Life is too short to drink anything less than good wine!

Our wines are made to be served with food. A good wine and a good meal by themselves are just that enjoyable. However, when the proper food wine pairing happens, a good wine and a good meal become outstanding and something you will remember for many years to come. We want to share our passion for food and wine to help you create your own amazing memories.