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.”
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] [caption= Laube leads a tasting at the Wine Experience with Caymus winemaker and owner Chuck Wagner.] [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.
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] [caption= At the 2007 New York Wine Experience, left to right, senior editors James Laube, Kim Marcus, Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator editor and publisher Marvin R. Shanken and editor at large Harvey Steiman.] [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: article-img-container]
“Jim was a professional journalist and a dogged reporter,” said Thomas Matthews, Wine Spectator executive editor from 1999 to 2020. “He was also an excellent taster. His keen palate and strong opinions brought new wines and entire regions to public attention. Equally important, he was not afraid to criticize when it was warranted, calling out TCA, brett and lackluster winemaking when they impaired wine quality, no matter how powerful the winery involved. His loyalty was always to the reader and consumer."
When he began writing about wine, California was still emerging as a fine wine region, demonstrating it deserved to be on the same level as the elite appellations of the world. Laube saw himself as a champion for consumers. He unabashedly held the wine industry to the high standards he felt it should meet, praising wines that met the mark and pointing out when they fell short. He encouraged young winemakers who showed promise, highlighting their hard work.
“Jim had more to do with establishing Napa Cabernet as distinctly different than Bordeaux than the vintners themselves,” said Wagner. “Jim rated delicious wine highly. Sometimes I did not like his scores, but he was largely correct.”
[article-img-container][src=2025-02/ns_james-laube-vineyard-032125_1600.jpg] [caption= Laube moved to Napa Valley shortly after college and would spend his life learning about the local wine industry and highlighting its work.] [credit= (Kent Hanson) ] [alt= James Laube in a vineyard.][end: article-img-container]
"Jim was a good man," said Beckstoffer. "He had a unique palate and was honest to it. He did a great service to our emerging wine industry."
During Laube’s time as Wine Spectator’s Napa bureau chief, he penned four books: California's Great Cabernets (1989), California's Great Chardonnays (1990) and two editions of Wine Spectator's California Wine (1995 and 1999), the first edition of which won the James Beard Award for best wine book in 1996. The books combined not only thousands of Laube’s tasting notes on top wines from over the years, but hundreds of in-depth profiles of the great winemakers of California.
Laube retired in 2019 but remained in Napa. When not writing, his passions included reading, music, traveling and the outdoors—especially anything that took him out on the water, including abalone diving and salmon fishing.
Laube is survived by his brothers Tom and Bob, his former wife, Cheryl, his son Dwight Laube, daughter Margaux Revis and two granddaughters.
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