About Winelibrary TV

Wine Library TV is changing the wine world!

What motivates this revolution, you ask? Our movement seeks to break down the barriers, stereotypes, and misperceptions that otherwise prevent people from exploring and enjoying the exciting and rewarding world of wine. Gary Vaynerchuk (VAY NER CHUK), the star of Wine Library TV, is Director of Operations at Wine Library in Springfield, NJ. With his unconventional, often irreverent commentary on wine, Gary has attracted a cult-like following of more than 80,000 viewers a day. In the name of “expanding one’s palate”, Gary convinced Conan O’Brien to lick salted rocks and shared samples of dirt and grass with Ellen Degeneres. He routinely pans popular wines (even ones sold by Wine Library). He interrupts his webcasts with rants about his beloved New York Jets. This is not your typical wine expert.

Gary’s roots in wine tasting come honestly – his Russian immigrant parents owned a liquor store when he was growing up. Bored at the cash register, Gary began reading Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate and realized collecting wine offered an allure similar to his previous hobby of collecting baseball cards. As a teenager, tasting wine was legally impossible, so Gary set out to train his palate “backwards”. To study various flavors associated with wine, Gary tasted obscure fruits and vegetables, along with earthly influences, including grass, dirt, rocks, tobacco and wood. “I probably consumed more New Jersey grass in my teens than any lawn mower.” By familiarizing himself with the numerous tastes that contributed to a specific wine, Gary was able to detect subtleties that an ordinary palate wouldn’t recognize.

With a wealth of knowledge and an entrepreneurial spirit, Gary spent every weekend of his college years at his parents’ store, rebranding the family business as Wine Library and establishing himself as a respected expert. As the store’s only wine buyer, he sampled every wine that entered the store. Customers depended on Gary for his advice and within a five year time period, Wine Library grew from a $4 million dollar business to a $45 million business.

But Gary’s career took a new turn with the advent of Wine Library TV. Gary’s key goals are twofold: “First, I want people to try different wines. How can you have a favorite if you only know a few? Second, I tell people to trust their palates. If a wine appeals to your palate, then it’s a good choice. Don’t feel pressured to like popular brands or what experts recommend. Buy what ‘brings the thunder’ for you.”

It always troubled Gary to observe the stuffiness of the industry–conceited sommeliers, snobby shopkeepers unwilling (or unable) to educate their consumers, and seemingly mystical conventions all combine to make wine seem intimidating to the uninitiated. Wine Library TV has reinvented the concept of wine tasting for a new generation. In addition to encouraging straightforward wine tasting, Gary educates viewers about the effects of regional factors (soil, sun, wind) on wine flavors, and how to buy wine. Debunking myths (red vs. white, big name brands vs. independent growers, the pitfalls of wine ratings, etc.) is another ongoing theme of the show. Specific episode topics have included decanting, how to train your palate, the impact oak aging
and barrel fermenting have on wine (Beware of the Oak Monster!), and comparisons of wines made from the same grapes grown in different regions.

WLTV has blossomed into a full-fledged community. The viewers (self-named “Vayniacs”) convene on an extremely active forum, and have organized numerous off-line gatherings. Gary and the viewers have teamed up with Crushpad in the past year to create the first ever community wine, Vayniac Cabernet.

Gary Vaynerchuk has been featured by a variety of national media outlets, including:

National TV

Newsprint and News Websites

Magazines

Radio

Internet Shows and Podcasts

Check out WLTV and join the revolution today!

18 Responses to “About Winelibrary TV”

  1. 1
    Basic Thinking Blog » E-Commerce: Wein-Webshop mit Videos Says:
    March 27th, 2006 at 4:37 am

    [...] Im About steht mehr zum Sinn und Ziel: Welcome to Wine Library TV, The Wine Library’s video wine blog! Nothing “lives” for us, nothing arouses more passion in our team than this profound and symbolic drink and the fascinating people that create, drink, and sell it. In fact, we believe we are so privileged to be involved with this ancient and yet completely contemporary trade, that we want to share our experiences directly with some of the people who love this great beverage as much as we do – our customers! [...]

  2. 2
    Wine Library TV Nears 100 Episodes at The Grape Nuts Blog Says:
    October 30th, 2006 at 10:10 am

    [...] Well, Gary Vaynerchuk at Wine Library hasn’t hit the wall – we don’t even think the wall can be seen on the horizon. [...]

  3. 3
    Vlog Deathmatch « The Vloggies Says:
    May 13th, 2007 at 3:29 am

    [...] genius Doctor Popular. Watch the T-unit (Ev Williams, Jack Dorsey, Chris Messina, Vloggies winner Gary Vaynerchuk, and) back her up from the Obvious office in South Park and don’t forget to go to the Vlog [...]

  4. 4
    Wine Library TV buys Cork’d | BrandBrains Says:
    May 14th, 2007 at 6:36 pm

    [...] Gary Vaynerchuk of The Wine Library and Wine Library TV has acquired Cork’d (the très cool social network for wine enthusiasts) from Dan Benjamin and Dan Cederholm. [...]

  5. 5
    I’m Totally Cork’d » Erin Cooks Says:
    May 16th, 2007 at 8:46 pm

    [...] surrounding Cork’d this week as it was acquired by WineLibrary TV and the absolutely adorable Gary Vaynerchuk.  I watched one of Gary’s wine podcasts today for the first time and I thought it was [...]

  6. 6
    Spreading the Thunder — The Social Web, Podcasting, Business Blogs — Changing the (Wine) World « aidrop Says:
    June 16th, 2007 at 5:18 am

    [...] would be Gary Vaynerchuk’s wine library [...]

  7. 7
    Watch This Wine Evangelist : Serious About Wine Says:
    June 20th, 2007 at 12:00 pm

    [...] Gary Vaynerchuk is a wine enthusiast and evangelist. Fittingly, he’s the Director of Operations at Wine Library, a wine retailer in New Jersey. Gary has been sharing his passion for wine with daily online videos where he sniffs, slurps, and spits wine all the while imparting wit and wisdom about wine (and about the New York Jets). [...]

  8. 8
    Romazini - News » Gary Uncorked - Wein Lifestyle Says:
    July 6th, 2007 at 8:40 am

    [...] aber wirklichen News-Wert haben wenige. Geht es nicht unterhaltsamer? Keine Frage, sagte sich Gary Vaynerchuck aus New Jersey und startete 2006 mit seiner Videokamera “Winelibrary TV“. Er degustiert [...]

  9. 9
    Louis van Proosdij Duport » Winelibrary TV, en attendant le vrai caviste 2.0 Says:
    July 14th, 2007 at 3:44 pm

    [...] est-ce que je raconte tout ça? Je suis tombé il y a peu sur le site Winelibrary TV animé par Gary Vaynerchuk. Et là j’ai eu un pincement au coeur. Le site Winelibrary TV en lui-même ne ressemble pas [...]

  10. 10
    Gary Vaynerchuk: Lessons in Video Blogging, Conflicts, and Social Media Marketing » Viget’s Four Labs Says:
    July 22nd, 2007 at 10:50 pm

    [...] and Twitter over the weekend, and through various clicks on friends of friends ended up finding Gary Vaynerchuk — a guy who “drinks wine and tells people what it tastes like” — which led [...]

  11. 11
    Vloggies Show » Blog Archive » Vlog Deathmatch = vlogsta rap Says:
    August 28th, 2007 at 1:13 pm

    [...] genius Doctor Popular. Watch the T-unit (Ev Williams, Jack Dorsey, Chris Messina, Vloggies winner Gary Vaynerchuk, and Crystal) head-nod at the Obvious office in South Park and don’t forget to go to the [...]

  12. 12
    Little Penguin Pinot Noir - Waddle On... | cheapwineratings.com Says:
    September 18th, 2007 at 8:56 pm

    [...] I was almost afraid to taste it after my first wiff.  (This is the point where if I were Gary Vaynerchuk I would stuff a sweaty sock into my mouth to prove that I know understand sweaty socks… but [...]

  13. 13
    I Want To Be Gary Vaynerchuk Says:
    November 21st, 2007 at 8:53 pm

    [...] want to be Gary Vaynerchuk [...]

  14. 14
    Off Topic (again): Gary Vaynerchuk is Crazy - sKatterBrainZ Says:
    May 1st, 2008 at 10:14 pm

    [...] I mean that in the most positive and complimentary way, honestly.  Gary Vaynerchuk is the host of the Wine Library TV podcast.  You can watch it on the web, or on your iPod, [...]

  15. 15
    Free Shipping from Wine Library » Blog Archive » Chateau Haut Brisson 2004 Says:
    June 11th, 2008 at 1:01 pm

    [...] Points Gary Vaynerchuk: “COLOR-dark; NOSE-wild; very interesting; black forest mushroom component; Sloppy Joe action (w/ [...]

  16. 16
    Wine Library TV - sevenload Blog Says:
    July 1st, 2008 at 3:56 pm

    [...] what is this revolution that they speak of? The “movement”, led by Gary Vaynerchuk (pronounced VAY NER CHUK) seeks to break down the barriers, stereotypes, and misconceptions that [...]

  17. 17
    Gary Vaynerchuck Pull No Punches | Holographic Life Mapping Says:
    September 9th, 2008 at 6:32 pm

    [...] time on the internet.  Gary is a social media maven who has risen to fame and fortune with his winelibraryTV video blog and is one of the hardest working people you can imagine. Gary has built his brand and [...]

  18. 18
    Free Shipping from Wine Library » Blog Archive » Sandro Fay Sforzato Valtellina 2005 Says:
    September 10th, 2008 at 1:01 pm

    [...] points Gary Vaynerchuk: “COLOR-dark; NOSE-very nice; romantic; made me think of Christmas (Egg Nog & peppermint); very [...]