How Wine Spectator’s Marvin Shanken Changed the Way America Drinks Wine

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Since Marvin Shanken’s passing on October 29 at the age of 83, we like to picture him in another dimension luxuriating in a glass of 1961 Pétrus while occasionally drawing on a Cohiba Siglo cigar and basking in all the admiration that’s been recently lavished on him online. If you don’t know who Shanken is, you have certainly been at least peripherally aware of his premier publication, Wine Spectator, which he converted from a small California-based newsletter into a glossy wine magazine in the 1980s. And even if you’ve never been a subscriber, you’re surely among the 3,000,000 people each year who’ve held a copy in their hands, if only for half an hour while waiting to be called in for your visit with the dentist or chiropractor.

Among the many magazines Shanken launched or reconfigured—including Cigar Afficionado, Whisky Advocate, and trade publications Market Watch, Shanken News Daily, and Impact Newsletter—Wine Spectator has had the strongest influence on the industry it covered. Simply put, it changed the way that Americans think about and drink wine. Although Robert Parker, founder of what is now known as Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, is widely credited with popularizing the 100-point scale for rating wine, Shanken’s Wine Spectator not only doles out scores and tasting notes but has offered readers full-length features on wine regions, wineries, and the colorful characters behind the bottle for more than 40 years. While newspapers in major U.S. cities from New York to San Francisco have had regular wine columns since the 1960s and ‘70s and trade-focused wine journals existed in America as early as the mid-19th century, Wine Spectator was the first American magazine dedicated solely to wine and the lifestyle surrounding it.

It’s also where we got our first big break in wine writing. After covering travel and food for several outlets, often with a wine focus, we landed an outstanding assignment: an eight-page Wine Spectator cover story on the mashup of tradition and modern architecture in Rioja, Spain, in 2008. Although we never met Shanken personally, we can tell by the many tributes from current and former employees (several of whom we are friends with) that he was a very hands-on owner and that executive editor Tom Matthews had to run the details of the article and us as writers by him before getting the go-ahead. For us, evidence of the magazine’s influence came in the form of a friend (who knew we loved Spain and wine) pulling a folded copy of the article out of her handbag and telling us she was planning her next vacation to Rioja based on its recommendation without having scanned the byline and realizing it had been written by us.

Under Shanken’sleadership, Wine Spectator spawned a handful of imitators, but not a single one could hold a candle to the magazine’s style, influence, or reach. In an age of soundbites, it still champions long-form journalism in addition to shorter informational articles and tasting reports. Without its existence it is doubtful that there would be so many options in the world of wine writing to choose from, including Robb Report’s coverage of wine among the categories of items and experiences that contribute to living the good life. And without Wine Spectator’s lead, it’s inconceivable that wine would occupy the central place it has in popular culture including television, film, and social media.

The magazine’s signature event, Wine Spectator New York Wine Experience, has also altered the way Americans taste wine. Held annually since 1981 and now featuring more than 250 winemakers and winery owners pouring their high-scoring wines, the extravaganza brings together the world’s finest selections under one roof, allowing unfettered access to the bottles and the people who make them. This, too, has inspired a large-scale-format tasting industry among other publications and critics, offering wine lovers a wide variety of events in major cities across the country throughout the entire year. Forty years ago, it would have been impossible to imagine a casual consumer asking the likes of Angelo Gaja to pose for a picture together, but the longstanding combination of sharing stories through writing and in-person appearances has created a cult of personality in which the term “superstar winemaker” is thrown around with abandon.

It’s been said Shanken’s influence extended beyond the folks who buy wine to the producers themselves and how they view the industry. Among those who lauded Shanken online this week is vintner Jean-Charles Boisset, who was first featured on the cover of Wine Spectator in 2003 in a story titled “France’s New Faces.” In an Instagram post, Boisset wrote, “Marvin gave wine a voice. He celebrated not only the wines, but the dreamers, the pioneers, and the passionate souls behind every bottle.” Farther down, he added, “Marvin had that extraordinary gift: he believed in people, championed dreams, and inspired generations to dare to achieve the impossible.”

Also on Instagram, winemaker Adam Lee wrote, “In a world increasingly willing to give up on print, Marvin kept making magazines. He started them, improved them, and put beautiful photographs and compelling stories into people’s hands. Into their homes. Onto their coffee tables, where someone might pick one up and discover something they hadn’t known they were interested in.” As wine writers who began our careers at Wine Spectator, we are especially grateful to Shanken and the style of wine journalism he championed for creating a world of wine consumers who are interested in the story behind what’s in their glass. The next time you pull a cork, whether from your tried-and-true favorite or a new pour you’ve discovered through reading, raise a glass to Marvin Shanken for all he did for the world of wine.

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