Marvin Shanken, who built Wine Spectator and Cigar Aficionado into cultural forces, dies at 83

Marvin R. Shanken, the editor and publisher who transformed Wine Spectator from a San Diego newspaper into one of the world's most recognized food and drink magazines — and who launched Cigar Aficionado into what became the defining publication of the 1990s cigar boom — died Thursday in Manhattan. He was 83.

Shanken's death was announced by Wine Spectator and Cigar Aficionado, according to halfwheel. No cause of death has been publicly detailed. He is survived by his wife Hazel, three daughters, two sisters, and four grandchildren.

Born October 4, 1943, in New Haven, Connecticut, Shanken earned a business degree from the University of Miami in 1965 and an MBA from American University in 1968, according to Wikipedia. He began his career in real estate and investment banking. His entry into publishing came through research on a potential vineyard purchase, which introduced him to the wine world — and in 1973, he bought Impact, a small newsletter covering the wine and spirits industry.

Impact became a foundation for what would grow into M. Shanken Communications. In 1979, he purchased Wine Spectator — then a San Diego-based newspaper — a few years after its 1976 founding, and converted it into a magazine. The company eventually expanded to include Market Watch, Shanken News Daily, and, in 2010, Whisky Advocate.

The launch of Cigar Aficionado in September 1992 proved to be one of his most consequential moves. According to halfwheel, the magazine's debut issue included the story of Cohiba and the first public mention of the Cuban Trinidad brand. The publication is credited with kicking off what became known as the 'cigar boom' — a period in the 1990s when cigar sales exploded across the United States.

Shanken used Cigar Aficionado as a platform for long-form interviews with figures who rarely spoke to the press. His subjects included Fidel Castro in 1994, Michael Jordan — twice, in 2005 and 2017 — Robert De Niro, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Dwayne Johnson, among others. His 2020 video interview with Jordan has been seen by more than 8 million viewers, according to Wikipedia.

In 1991, Shanken visited Cuba and wrote about it for Wine Spectator — a trip that preceded and informed the launch of Cigar Aficionado the following year, according to halfwheel. In 1999, he filmed an interview with Ernest Gallo, co-founder of E & J Gallo Winery, on Gallo's 90th birthday; that footage was released publicly by Wine Spectator in 2022.

Shanken was among the first magazine publishers to build reader-facing events into his business model. The New York Wine Experience launched in 1981, the Big Smoke cigar event in 1993, and WhiskyFest in 1998. The annual Impact Marketing Seminar, which began in 1977, drew speakers including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Henry Kissinger, and Walter Cronkite, according to Wikipedia.

His philanthropic work was extensive. Through the Wine Spectator Scholarship Foundation, he committed $10 million to Napa Valley College in 2021 for a Wine Education Complex, donated $3 million to Sonoma State University's Wine Spectator Learning Center, and granted $3.6 million in scholarships and research grants to UC Davis's Department of Viticulture and Enology, according to Wikipedia. In 2009, he co-founded the Els for Autism Foundation in Jupiter, Florida, with golfer Ernie Els and Liezl Els; the foundation runs a school for 300 students on a 26-acre campus. Shanken served as its chairman until 2023. Combined, his charity events raised more than $75 million, according to Wikipedia.

Shanken and his wife Hazel, whom he married in 1981, collected French poster art from the 1890s through World War I — the era of Toulouse-Lautrec. The collection was the subject of a 1990 book, Wine Spectator's Posters of the Belle Epoque, by Jack Rennert, according to Wikipedia.

M. Shanken Communications, headquartered in Manhattan with offices in Napa, California and Emmaus, Pennsylvania, continues to operate Wine Spectator, Cigar Aficionado, Whisky Advocate, Impact, Market Watch, and Shanken News Daily.

Why it matters — Shanken built the publications and events that shaped how Americans think about wine, cigars, and spirits for more than four decades, and his death closes a defining chapter in lifestyle media publishing.

Sources differ on Year Shanken purchased Impact newsletter: 1972 (variety.com) vs 1973 (en.wikipedia.org)

Sources differ on Year Shanken purchased Wine Spectator: 1978 (halfwheel.com) vs 1979 (en.wikipedia.org)

Reported by variety.com, en.wikipedia.org, halfwheel.com