Marvin R. Shanken | |
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Born | New Haven, CT | October 4, 1943
Alma mater | University of Miami (BBA) American University (MBA) |
Occupations |
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Title | Founder & Chairman, M. Shanken Communications |
Marvin R. Shanken (born October 4, 1943) is an American publisher and founder of M. Shanken Communications. [1] Shanken's roster of lifestyle publications includes Wine Spectator , Cigar Aficionado and Whisky Advocate . [2] Shanken is editor and publisher of each of the three publications. Based in Manhattan, M. Shanken Communications has offices in Napa, California and Emmaus, Pennsylvania.
Shanken grew up in New Haven, Connecticut. He received an undergraduate BBA degree in 1965 from the University of Miami, and then an MBA at American University in 1968.
Shanken started his career in real estate and investment banking, then moved into publishing in 1973, purchasing Impact, a small wine and spirits industry newsletter, before expanding to other trade publications including Market Watch, Shanken News Daily and Impact Newsletter. In 1979, he purchased Wine Spectator a few years after its 1976 founding, [3] and launched Cigar Aficionado in September 1992. [4]
He later went on to spearhead Wine Spectator’s entry to the digital world, with mobile apps including Wine Spectator WineRatings+ and Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards. [5]
For Cigar Aficionado, Shanken has interviewed leaders, artists and celebrities—many of whom are famously elusive—such as Fidel Castro (1994), Francis Ford Coppola (2003), General Tommy Franks (2003), Arnon Milchan (2008), Michael Jordan (2005, 2017), Robert De Niro (2015), Alex Rodriguez (2018), Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (2020), Mark Wahlberg (2023) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (2023).
In 2020, Shanken's video interview with Michael Jordan was released. To date, it has been seen by over 8 million viewers. Shanken revealed to GQ details behind his two Cigar Aficionado cover story interviews with Jordan, who rarely talks to the press. [6]
In 2022, Wine Spectator released a rare video interview, filmed in 1999, between Shanken and the famously private Ernest Gallo, co-founder of E & J Gallo Winery. [7] The interview was filmed on Gallo's 90th birthday.
Shanken was one of the first magazine publishers to host reader-focused events, with the launches of the New York Wine Experience in 1981, WhiskyFest in 1998 and the Big Smoke in 1993. [8]
The annual Impact Marketing Seminar for wine and spirits industry leaders from around the world began in 1977 and has featured renowned speakers such as Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Henry Kissinger, Dick Cheney, Rudy Giuliani, Michael Milken, Ron DeSantis, Michael Strahan, Abba Eban, Madeleine Albright, John R. Bolton, Newt Gingrich, Tommy Franks, Helmut Schmidt and Walter Cronkite.
In 2021, M. Shanken Communications published a special 50th anniversary issue, whose contents included an interview with Marvin R. Shanken, the origins of M. Shanken Communications, a history of the U.S. drinks market, a history of the cigar industry and a look at the future of wine and spirits in America. [9]
In 2019, Shanken News Daily launched its Cannabis Edition, a weekly newsletter covering the cannabis market, with a special focus on the movements of major drinks industry companies. [10]
Shanken and his wife Hazel collect French poster art from the 1890s to WWI, the era of Toulouse-Lautrec. The collection is showcased in a book by Jack Rennert called Posters of the Belle Epoque.
Shanken is the creator of several annual charity events including Wine Spectator's New York Wine Experience (started in 1981); Cigar Aficionado's Night to Remember dinner for prostate cancer (1993); and the Els for Autism Pro-Am Golf Tournament (2010). Combined, the events have raised more than $50 million. The monies have been donated to many educational and culinary institutions.
He is also founder of the Wine Spectator Scholarship Foundation. In 2021, the Foundation made a record $10 million commitment to Napa Valley College to support the construction and expansion of the college's Viticulture, Wine and Technology program teaching spaces, which will be named the Wine Spectator Wine Education Complex at Napa Valley College. [11]
In 2020, the Foundation contributed $250,000 to World Central Kitchen, the charitable organization led by chef Jose Andres. [12]
In addition, the Foundation funded Sonoma State University's Wine Spectator Learning Center, which opened its doors in 2018. [13]
In 2009, Shanken, along with Ernie Els and Liezl Els, founded the Els for Autism Foundation in Jupiter, Florida. With a global mission to transform the lives of people with autism and those who care for them through lifetime services and collaborative partnerships, the Foundation built and runs a school for 300 boys and girls on an expansive 26-acre campus in Jupiter, Florida. Shanken served as Chairman of the Board, with his tenure concluding in 2023. As of 2023, he serves as Honorary Chairman. [14]
In 2018, the Els for Autism Foundation and the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai partnered to create the Seaver Els Institute, a research organization dedicated to helping people on the autism spectrum fulfill their potential to lead positive, productive and rewarding lives. [15]
In 2016, at the annual Els for Autism Pro-Am, Rickie Fowler shot a hole-in-one, resulting in a $1,000,000 donation. [16]
In 2021, the Marvin and Hazel Shanken DEI Scholarship was announced. The scholarship benefits students pursuing a hospitality education at Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. [17]
Shanken is an Honorary Board Member of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami. [18]
In 1988, he was inducted into the Keepers of the Quaich, which was founded that year as a celebration of Scottish culture, tradition and whisky. As of 2023, he serves as vice chair of the USA chapter. [19]
He has three daughters, Samantha Shanken Baker, Allison Cohen and Jessica Elizabeth Shanken Reid and four grandchildren, Jake, Lauren, Jordan and Asher. Jessica serves as Executive Vice President, Business Development at M. Shanken Communications.
In 2019, Shanken was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the MPA, the Association of Magazine Media. [20]
In 2018, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Meininger Verlaga—a German media company founded in 1903 specializing in wine and spirits trade publications—for his impact on the global wine industry. [21]
In 2012, he was named among the Who’s Who of Food & Beveragein America by the James Beard Foundation. [22]
Cigar Aficionado is an American lifestyle magazine that is dedicated to enjoying the “good life” and the world of cigars. It is a publication of M. Shanken Communications, which also publishes Wine Spectator, Whisky Advocate, Market Watch, Shanken News Daily and IMPACT Newsletter.
Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was established in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire in 1820, and continued to be produced and bottled at the town's Hill Street plant, once the world's largest bottling plant, until its closure in 2012, a decision announced by Diageo in 2009 which would bring the 190-year association between the brand and Kilmarnock to an end.
The French Laundry is a three-Michelin-star French and Californian cuisine restaurant located in Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley. Sally Schmitt opened The French Laundry in 1978 and designed her menus around local, seasonal ingredients; she was a visionary chef and pioneer of California cuisine. Since 1994, the chef and owner of The French Laundry is Thomas Keller. The restaurant building dates from 1900 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
GALLO is a winery and distributor headquartered in Modesto, California. It was founded in 1933 by Ernest Gallo and Julio Gallo of the Gallo family, and is the largest exporter of California wines. It is the largest wine producer in the world, producing over 3% of the world's entire annual supply of 35 billion bottles with an annual revenue of $5.3 billion it is also the largest family-owned winery in the United States. Gallo provides about 3,500 jobs to Modesto residents and 2,500 jobs in other parts of the state, country, and world.
Constellation Brands, Inc. is an American producer and marketer of beer, wine, and spirits. A Fortune 500 company, Constellation is the largest beer import company in the US, measured by sales, and has the third-largest market share of all major beer suppliers. It also has sizable investments in medical and recreational cannabis through its association with Canopy Growth. Based in Victor, New York, Constellation has about 40 facilities and approximately 9,000 employees.
Wine Spectator is an American lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine, wine culture and wine ratings. It is the flagship publication of M. Shanken Communications, which also publishes Cigar Aficionado, Whisky Advocate, Market Watch, Shanken News Daily and Shanken’s Impact Newsletter.
Warren Winiarski is a Napa Valley winemaker and the founder and former proprietor of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars.
Brian Joseph Winters is an American former basketball player and coach.
Total Wine & More is a family-owned privately held American alcohol retailer founded and led by brothers David and Robert Trone. The company was named Retailer of the Year by Market Watch in 2006, Beverage Dynamics in 2008, and Wine Enthusiast Magazine in 2004 and 2014. The company is headquartered in North Bethesda, Maryland.
The Duckhorn Portfolio Inc. is an American wine company producing varietal labelled and blended red, white, rosé, and sparkling wines from California and Washington State. The main winery, Duckhorn Vineyards, is outside St. Helena, California.
Piloto Cigars Inc. is a private company that produces the Padrón cigar brand from Nicaragua. Commonly known as Padrón Cigars, the company was founded in September 8, 1964, in Miami, Florida, by Cuban-native José Orlando Padrón. In 1970, Padrón moved the company to Estelí, Nicaragua.
James Cameron Suckling is an American wine and cigar critic and former Senior Editor and European Bureau Chief of Wine Spectator as well as European Editor of Cigar Aficionado. Suckling is internationally regarded as one of the world's most influential wine critics, and one of the most experienced critics of vintage cigars.
Anthony Terlato was an Italian-American wine executive who was chairman of Terlato Wines, a Lake Bluff, Illinois-based wine importer, producer and marketer. He has been called "The Father of Pinot Grigio" for his early role in bringing the now-ubiquitous varietal to the American market in the late 1970s when it was practically unknown outside Europe. He has been credited as a key figure in the shift in American wine tastes from "mass-produced, sweet, fortified jug wines ... to the likes of classified-growth Bordeaux, top Italian estates, and the best wineries in California that are enjoyed by many today."
Perdomo is a brand of cigars primarily grown and produced in Nicaragua and sold worldwide by Tabacalera Perdomo. Manufactured by Perdomo Cigars, the company is a family owned and operated business headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida and headed by CEO Nick Perdomo, Jr.
Caymus Vineyards is a Napa winery owned by Chuck Wagner and his family. It was named for George Yount's Rancho Caymus land grant, which in turn was named for the villages of Kaimus, the Wappo settlements previously existing in the region.
Jean-Charles Boisset is a French vintner and the proprietor of the Boisset Collection, which operates 28 wineries in California, France, and Canada.
Rodney Strong Vineyards is a family-owned winery based in Healdsburg, California, United States. It was founded in 1959 by wine pioneer and former dancer, Rodney Strong, the winery focuses solely on Sonoma County grape growing and wines. Rodney Strong Vineyards sources from throughout Sonoma County and has 14 estate vineyards located in Alexander Valley, Russian River Valley, Chalk Hill, Sonoma Coast and Dry Creek Valley. It was recognized as American Winery of the Year in 2013 by Wine Enthusiast Magazine.
Whisky Advocate is a quarterly print magazine that focuses on whisky. It is a publication of M. Shanken Communications.
Villiger Sons is a Swiss multinational concern which manufactures and sells cigars and cigarillos and other tobacco products. Founded in 1888, the company is family owned and managed in the third, respectively fourth generation, and employs over 1,500 people worldwide. Villiger produces over 16 brands and has a revenue of approximately $220 million (2017). Besides owning several factories as subsidiaries in countries such as the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Indonesia.Villiger is also present on the U.S. market and has opened a new subsidiary of Villiger North America, Inc. in Doral, Florida in 2016.