James Laube, longtime Wine Spectator senior editor and Napa bureau chief, has died at age 73 after a short illness. A writer and taster with the magazine for nearly four decades, Laube helped shape the California wine industry and educated and entertained thousands of wine lovers who read his articles. In the process, he helped build Wine Spectator into the world’s leading magazine for wine.
“California wine would not be what it is without James Laube,” said Marvin R. Shanken, editor and publisher of Wine Spectator since 1979. “I hired him at a young age, but he was already years ahead of others when it came to knowledge and understanding of California wine. For more than 30 years, we worked together and traveled the world together. His impact on California Cabernet in particular was incredible.”
Chuck Wagner, owner of Napa’s Caymus Vineyards, remembers Laube as a tough but fair critic. “The industry owes Jim Laube a large measure of gratitude,” said Wagner. “He never played politics. He was not ego driven. Always honest, he tasted blind and was a true authority on wine.”
Discovering a Young Wine Industry
Laube grew up in Anaheim, Calif., and majored in history at San Diego State University. While in college, he discovered two passions: surfing and wine. “I had been sampling my way through the shelves of a little wine store near the beach at Cardiff-by-the-Sea in San Diego, where I lived,” he wrote in 1993. “I had no idea that I was sipping my way through the modern renaissance of California wine and laying the groundwork for a life of writing about and drinking California wine.”
[article-img-container][src=2025-02/ns_jim-laube-wagner-nywe-032125_1600.jpg] [credit= (Kent Hanson) ] [alt= James Laube and Chuck Wagner at the Wine Experience.][end: article-img-container]One of his surfing buddies soon moved to Sonoma, and Laube spent summer breaks visiting him and traveling to various tasting rooms, learning about the winemakers. “When I look back at those experiences I realize the 1960s and 1970s were the dawn of the rebirth of California’s fine-wine industry.”
In 1978, Laube moved to Napa Valley, where he worked as the Napa County bureau chief for the Vallejo-Times Herald, a daily newspaper that mostly covered neighboring Solano County. While he reported on all manner of local news, in Napa that often involved the wine industry. During his first day on the job, he met then–vineyard manager Andy Beckstoffer, because he was writing about the county planning commission, on which Beckstoffer held a seat. Laube covered the first Auction Napa Valley and was able to taste the first vintage of what became Opus One.
Shaping Wine Spectator
Laube began writing freelance stories for Wine Spectator in 1980, and joined the staff full-time in 1983. At that time, the magazine was still in transition from a newspaper found in small wine shops to a first-class magazine with global reach. Laube was instrumental in both defining the magazine’s style and building trust with its growing audience.
During Laube’s career with the magazine, he reviewed every category of wine made in California, as well as wines from around the world, and conducted numerous verticals, retrospectives and other special tastings. He helped establish the magazine’s protocols for blind tasting and hired many of its future editors.
[article-img-container][src=2025-02/ns_senior-editors-nywe-032125_1600.jpg] [credit= (Kent Hanson) ] [alt= senior editors James Laube, Kim Marcus, Bruce Snaderson, Wine Spectator editor and publisher Marvin R. Shanken and editor at large Harvey Steiman.][end:…Source : https://www.winespectator.com/articles/longtime-wine-spectator-napa-bureau-chief-james-laube
