Marvin R. Shanken, Wine Spectator editor and publisher, dies at 83

Marvin R. Shanken died on October 29 at 83. Across a 5-decade career, the founder of M. Shanken Communications and longtime editor and publisher of Wine Spectator influenced the wine, spirits, beer, cigar and restaurant sectors while treating service to readers as the central purpose of his publications.¹

Beyond Wine Spectator, his company established Market Watch, Shanken News Daily and Cigar Aficionado, acquired Food Arts and bought Malt Advocate before renaming it Whisky Advocate. Wine Spectator grew into a magazine valued by more than 3 million wine enthusiasts. Industry executive Gerry Ruvo placed Shanken alongside Ernest Gallo and Robert Mondavi among the leading figures in American wine.¹

From finance to wine publishing

Marvin Ray Shanken was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on October 4, 1943. His father, Oscar, owned a small jewelry shop. After volunteering for John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential campaign, Shanken studied business at the University of Miami and graduated in 1965. He later qualified for graduate study at American University through night classes. He joined a small Wall Street investment bank in 1968 and, 2 years later, was sent to California to help finance a vineyard acquisition, where he discovered how little public information existed about the wine business.¹

A dinner at La Crémaillère in Westchester County introduced him to 1961 Pétrus, the wine that prompted him to study the subject seriously. An automobile accident during another California trip 2 years later reinforced his decision to leave real estate for wine journalism. In 1972, using $5,000 borrowed from his sister Elaine, he bought the Impact newsletter from Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Jack Maxwell and received a subscriber file consisting of 200 index cards. He operated it part-time while retaining his other job for the next 3 years.¹

Shanken left his day job in 1975 and ran Impact full-time with 1 employee from his 1-bedroom Manhattan apartment. The newsletter challenged the secrecy of the privately owned wine and spirits companies of the 1970s, while wholesalers became important early subscribers. Impact issued its initial annual industry study in 1976 and organized its inaugural marketing seminar in 1977; Shanken expected 50 attendees, but 125 came. Seagram Vintners chairman Abdallah Simon described its statistical work as exceptionally authoritative in a 1986 New York Times account.¹

Transforming Wine Spectator

Bob Morrisey founded The Wine Spectator in San Diego in April 1976 as a free newspaper distributed through wine shops. When financial problems emerged, Morrisey offered it to Shanken in 1978. Shanken initially declined and instead advised him, but purchased the publication in 1979 after learning that it otherwise faced closure. Shanken’s initial issue as publisher appeared on July 16, 1979, when circulation stood at 5,000.¹

The staff moved from San Diego to San Francisco in 1982. Shanken became editor in 1983 while continuing to run M. Shanken Communications from New York. Wine Spectator introduced a 100-point rating system in 1985. Although an accountant urged Shanken to sell the loss-making title in 1986, he continued investing, converted it into a glossy magazine in 1987 and brought circulation to 76,000 in 1988.¹

In an editorial dated September 16, 1983, Shanken rejected demands from wineries and importers for favorable treatment and affirmed the publication’s independence. By 1991, circulation had reached 80,000, and he expanded coverage beyond wine to dining, cooking, travel and collecting. The magazine now circulates to more than 385,000 readers, with an estimated audience of 1.5 million for each issue. In a 2022 interview, Shanken said wine would remain the core subject while those related interests reflected the broader lives of wine consumers.¹

Shanken kept his personal interest in cigars separate from Wine Spectator and launched Cigar Aficionado after his management team questioned whether a sufficient audience existed. The title quickly succeeded. In February 2019, Condé Nast International chairman Jonathan Newhouse presented him with the Association of Magazine Media’s Lifetime Achievement Award and highlighted his protection of editorial independence from advertising pressure.¹

Restaurant awards and the Wine Experience

Shanken created the Wine Spectator Grand Award program in 1981 to recognize serious restaurant wine programs and help readers locate them. The 1st year produced 13 Grand Award recipients, and the magazine identified America’s top 100 wine lists the next year. The Award of Excellence and Best of Award of Excellence were added in 1985, establishing 3 levels. More than 4,000 restaurants around the world now hold a Wine Spectator award, including 99 Grand Award winners. Shanken contrasted restaurants of the 1970s, where perhaps 1 of 30 tables had wine, with the situation 40 years later, when all 30 might have a bottle.¹

In 1981, Shanken and Windows on the World wine director Kevin Zraly hosted a banquet for the initial Grand Award recipients in New York’s World Trade Center. That year, California tourism officials also presented the California Wine Experience in San Francisco. In 1982, organizers including Robert Mondavi asked Shanken to assume control; with Zraly, he combined the 2 occasions into a weekend of tastings, seminars and an awards banquet. His earlier event experience included organizing the International Wine and Cheese Festival in 1973, 1 year after buying Impact. In the early 1980s, advertising executive Bill Backer likened his promotional ability to that of P.T. Barnum.¹

The Wine Experience now attracts more than 4,000 participants annually. Its program includes 2 Grand Tasting nights featuring more than 250 wines rated at least 90 points by Wine Spectator editors, served by winery owners or winemakers, along with detailed tasting seminars. The event is in its 5th decade. Shanken established the Wine Spectator Scholarship Foundation in 1983, and the event’s net proceeds support it; donated wines have helped raise more than $40 million for hospitality and wine education. In a 2016 interview reflecting on 40 years, he identified charitable giving as a defining company commitment.¹

Foundation beneficiaries have included Napa Valley College, the University of California-Davis viticulture and enology program, Sonoma State University’s Wine Business Institute, Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, World Central Kitchen, The Roots Foundation and the Culinary Institute of America.¹

Further events and charitable work

In 2009, Shanken and his wife, Hazel, joined professional golfer Ernie Els and his wife, Liezl, in establishing the Els for Autism Foundation. Inspired by the Els family’s experience raising their autistic son Ben, the partnership raised funds for the Els Center of Excellence, an education and recreation facility for autistic children in South Florida that opened in 2015.¹

The Wine Experience also became the model for 2 additional events associated with Shanken. He staged the 1st Big Smoke for Cigar Aficionado readers in 1993. After acquiring Malt Advocate in 2010, he expanded the publication’s WhiskyFest event.¹

Family, culture and editorial leadership

Shanken married financial executive Hazel Rudy in 1981; she serves on the M. Shanken Communications board of advisers. Their 1 daughter, Jessica Shanken Reid, is the company’s executive vice president for business development. His 2 daughters from an earlier marriage were Allison Cohen and Samantha Shanken Baker, and Allison’s son Jake Cohen works for the company in advertising. Shanken was survived by Hazel; his sisters, Elaine and Susan; his daughters Samantha, Allison and Jessica; and 4 grandchildren, Jake, Lauren, Asher and Jordan.¹

Outside work, Shanken enjoyed dining, travel, cinema and James Brown’s music. Once Upon a Time in America and Animal House were among his favorite films. His enthusiasm for musical theater encompassed Jersey Boys and Gilbert & Sullivan, beginning with a role in H.M.S. Pinafore at a Berkshire Mountains summer camp when he was 8. In 2000, he began funding school trips that allowed New York City children to attend New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players performances.¹

During 5 decades at the head of his company, Shanken promoted long employee tenures and advancement from junior positions. In a 2020 interview, he emphasized accuracy, objectivity and reader trust, while describing himself principally as an editor involved in cover choices, story development and photography. His published interviews included Ernest Gallo, Fidel Castro, Michael Jordan and Arnold Schwarzenegger.¹