Richard Ward, co-founder of Saintsbury winery and pioneer of Napa Valley Pinot Noir, died Saturday from complications after a 13-year battle with cancer. With his business partner, David Graves, Mr. Ward was among the early advocates for Burgundy grape varieties in Carneros, the cool-climate area in southern Napa Valley. Before moving to California to study enology at UC Davis, he earned a structural engineering degree from Tufts University. The following year, the two were housemates while working harvest at Chappellet and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in Napa, making — what else? — Cabernet Sauvignon. […] their love of Burgundy called to them, and they saw hope for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in California in the cool-climate Sanford & Benedict Vineyard in Santa Barbara County, according to an interview Graves gave to Wine Spectator. In 1981 — two years before Carneros would be named an American Viticultural Area — the academically minded pair founded their winery, naming it for literary scholar and wine lover George Saintsbury. (His 1920 work, “Notes on a Cellar-Book,” is considered one of the great pieces of wine criticism in history.) While purchasing top-quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes from neighboring Carneros vineyards, the pair also produced a value-priced Pinot brand called Garnet, which they sold in 2011 to refocus efforts on their higher-end bottlings. Like Saintsbury himself, Mr. Ward was a man of many passions and pursuits: an avid reader, a dedicated gardener, a lover of music, travel and history with insatiable curiosity. The family requests that those who would like to honor Mr. Ward donate blood, join the National Bone Marrow Registry or make a donation to the fund in his name at the Carneros art center Di Rosa.