The Hawaiian-shirt wearing California winemaker who ‘put Merlot on the map’ has died

The Hawaiian-shirt wearing California winemaker who ‘put Merlot on the map’ has died.

Tom Rinaldi, one of Napa Valley’s most respected winemakers, has died.

Rinaldi, whose winemaking career spanned 50 years, was the founding winemaker at the famed Duckhorn Vineyards, where he worked for 22 years before moving on to help establish several other wine brands, including Provenance Vineyards and Hewitt.

Rinaldi’s daughter, Angelina Bigelow, said her father’s death this past weekend was unexpected, but that he passed “peacefully in his sleep.” He was 77.