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The Shelton family asked the Napa Valley Vintners to share this message: Wine Industry Leader Tom Shelton Passes Away July 28 , 2008 Tom Shelton, an American wine industry leader and the highly esteemed former president/CEO of Joseph Phelps Vineyards, died Saturday at his home in Calistoga surrounded by his loving family.
The Shelton family asked the Napa Valley Vintners to share this message:
Wine Industry Leader Tom Shelton Passes Away
July 28 , 2008
Tom Shelton, an American wine industry leader and the highly esteemed former president/CEO of Joseph Phelps Vineyards, died Saturday at his home in Calistoga surrounded by his loving family.
Thomas Howell Shelton was born to John and Ruth Howell Shelton on January 24, 1953 in Washington D.C. He was raised in Alexandria, Va. and graduated from High Point High in Beltsville, Md. To earn spending money he caddied at a nearby golf course and developed a lifelong love of golf.
Tom graduated cum laude with a degree in political science from Wake Forest University where he was captain of the Varsity Swim Team. Tom started out his career in the wine industry at Shop Right Liquors in Maryland and was also a sales representative for Quality Brands. In 1978 he became the owner/operator of Baltimore's North Plaza Liquor & Wine Storage. During these years Tom began his lifelong love affair with wine and in 1984 he joined Vintage Wine Merchants in San Francisco.
In 1988 he accepted a position with Franciscan Vineyards in Napa Valley as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He held the same post for Guenoc before Joe Phelps lured him away in 1992. Tom became President of Joseph Phelps Vineyards in 1994 and President/CEO in 1995. Teaming with winemaker Craig Williams, he is credited with the significant turn around of the Joseph Phelps Vineyards brand, propelling it to premiere status in the world of wine. Their 2002 Insignia was Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year in 2005.
Tom served in a number of leadership positions in the wine industry. He was on the Board of Directors of the Napa Valley Vintners from 1997 to 2001, and served as President of the Board in 1999. He chaired the NVV's Premiere Napa Valley, Auction Napa Valley, the Napa Name Protection Committee, and the Marketing & Promotions Committee. Tom was instrumental in helping the NVV lead on critical issues including: opening up new direct markets for vintners across the United States; protecting the integrity of the Napa Valley name; establishing the innovative land resource protection program "Napa Green"; and creating additional housing for seasonal farm workers.
Tom represented Napa Valley on the Board of Directors of the California Wine Institute from 2001 to 2004, where he served as Secretary of the Board and worked on the Public Policy and Finance committees. He served on a number of other boards including Winegrowers of Napa County, Free the Grapes, Coalition for Free Trade, Wine Alliance of Napa County, the Napa County Watershed Information Center, and North Bay Bank Corp.
Tom was widely respected by members of the wine trade and media across the United States and around the world. He traveled tirelessly to promote the brands he worked for and established key and lasting relationships that helped those brands succeed.
Tom's hobbies included cycling and downhill skiing. He was a scholar, loved to read and was never without a book. He read poetry, especially Robert Frost, to his children before they went to sleep. He played a mean guitar and could listen to jazz, folk, rock or classical music for hours on end. He loved to cook and share a bottle of fine wine with friends or family while discussing philosophy, literature, music, or his passion, Napa Valley and its wines.
As hard as he worked Tom always put his family first. He adored his devoted wife Laurie and his five children: Bryan, Jonathon, Jessica, Trevor, and Camille. He had a great time teaching his children how to drive stick shifts. They played board games -- Scrabble and chess -- anything to be together. He loved the Washington Redskins and would gather the kids around the TV to watch games and for comedy skits on Saturday Night Live. Tom's sense of humor and his love of satire were legendary. He never judged people, reached out to those in need, and always avoided gossip. He coached Little League, volunteered for many charities, and was an instrument rated pilot. He defined the term Renaissance Man.
Tom battled brain cancer as he lived his life -- with unusual gusto and dignity, never complaining, and always upbeat. His motto was "Do the best you can."
Tom was a man who lived up to his credo. His word was his bond. He will be missed by his family and countless friends throughout Napa Valley and around the world.
In addition to his wife and children Tom is also survived by his father and stepmother, John and Odell Shelton, his sister and her husband, Melinda and John Colgan, and their two children Elyse and Brendon. Tom was preceded in death by his mother Ruth.
A private family funeral is being held and a public celebration of Tom's life will be on October 11 th. To send well wishes to the family and tributes about Tom that will be placed in a memory book please visit: www.sheltonplace.com. More information about the celebration of life will be posted on the site.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations be made to:
The Tom Shelton Napa Valley Bike Trail Fund
Napa Community Bank, 700 Trancas Street, Napa, CA 94558
The UCSF Foundation for Brain Tumor Research
P.O. Box 45339 , San Francisco, CA, 94145
