Greg Walter, who celebrated American Pinot Noir and helped to create generations of Pinot enthusiasts, has died of colon cancer at the age of 58, in Yountville, California.
Walter served as the Sonoma Valley Sun’s wine editor for five years, covering wine trends, industry leaders and writing reviews, along with writing his iconic website and newsletter, The PinotReport.
He lived in Sonoma Valley for many years and was often spotted cruising around Sonoma in his SUV with a Pinot themed license plate.
Originally from San Diego, Walter answered a want-ad for a writer at Wine Spectator, when it was a new bi-monthly newspaper. He would work for the publication for 14 years, serving as president.
Marvin R. Shanken, editor and publisher of Wine Spectator, credited Walter with making the iconic magazine “grow into what it is today,” in an interview with Wine Spectator upon the news of Walter’s death.
Walter won a James Beard Award for Newsletter Writing in 2005 and The PinotReport continued to showcase the West’s best Pinot producers until early 2016.
As a young Pinot Noir enthusiast, I subscribed to The PinotReport as a twenty-something in college and continued to read his website as a resource until he stopped publishing the newsletter earlier this year. When I moved to Wine Country, I had a “fan” moment when I met Walter at the Carneros Bistro in Sonoma. He was a kind, friendly man who worked hard to showcase the best of wine and to make a future for his daughter, Grace Anna Walter.
Walter is survived by his daughter, his mother, Arloa Walter, two brothers, and his former wife, Lisa Adams Walter.
A fund has been set up to accept donations on behalf of Walter for his young daughter, Gracie. Visit youcaring.com.
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