- Founder of M. Shanken Communications, whose publications include Cigar Aficionado and Wine Spectator.
- Got his start in real estate and dabbled in investment banking before making the move to the publishing world, where he mostly focused on lifestyle publications.
- Turned his appreciation of the finer things in life into a multimillion dollar business in true Wildcatter form.
- Shanken famously purchased at auction the humidor of John F. Kennedy for $575,000 in 1996. The humidor was an inauguration gift to Kennedy from legendary comedian Milton Berle.
“The goal in tasting wine is not to “find” the same aromas and flavors some other taster is describing. If you hone your own perceptual abilities and develop the vocabulary to articulate them, you’ll not only derive more pleasure from the wine itself, but also stimulate better communication between you and the friends who are sharing the bottle.”
“Drinking wine is easy: tilt glass and swallow. Really tasting wine is more of a challenge. You need the proper tools and environment, the ability to concentrate, a good memory and a vivid imagination.”
-Marvin Shanken