Really great shew..(Ed Sullivan)I just tried to figure out how many wines I’ve had in the last two months (maybe 30) and I still have many of the bottles to count because I like to see the labels. What I need to do is keep a log with tasting notes or just jot down something that impressed me about the wines. I have revisited a few wines when the succeeding year arrives and verticals can tell you a lot. Sometimes they are radically different from the previous year. You are an inspiration and so is Robert Parker because you can access many more wines than the average Vayniac. Expanding our horizons is a good thing but I also like to pair wine with food. A synergistic wine with just the right cheese or sauce or steak is really exciting to me!

There was a recent article in the NY Times about limos and tour buses hauling people to the vinyards on Long Island and going place to place and tasting a lot of free wine and doing wine shooters and getting rowdy. That is just silly and not what we need. Ban the Limos.

On the other hand there was an incident here in DC this week where a man in a hood tried to stick up a Capitol Hill back porch dinner party with a gun. The host kindly offered the thief a crystal glass of a nice Chateau Malescot St Exupery Margaux which the thief tried and said” Man this is some nice wine” He sipped some more and said that he must have made a mistake and gone to the wrong house and asked for a hug. The party obliged and he left with the glass of wine. They found the crystal glass upright and empty in the alley the next day. The police said they should have grabbed him instead of hugging him but I thought it was a brilliant solution in a tense situation.

Lastly my favorite QPR in Bordeaux is the Cru Bourgeois. Well they just couldn’t agree who was in or out so the French court got involved this week and dissolved this whole class of wine. In a vintage year many of these neighbors of the classified growths bring some thunder but at a fraction of the cost. There are 7,000 Chateaus in Bordeaux so at 365 a year it would take a while to taste them all. That is why Robert Parker and Steve Tanzer and Gary Vaynerchuk do such a great service spitting so we don’t have to. Thank you all for chopping a lot of the wood. The British got a head start on the US in appreciating wine and then there was Prohibition and there are still dry counties in the hinterland of our country as a result. With what Gary suggested there is hope that the average person can gain a lot of knowledge if they try as many styles and varietals and terroirs. Chile used to be a lot better than Argentina but I’m pretty stoked about what I’ve been tasting lately from Mendoza. Next stop on my tour of South America is Uruguay. Wine evokes emotion and love and the world needs more of that.

Thanks for the challenge Gary! I’m inspired but my poor liver might quit on me…

Just tried two today — a Bordeaux (yay!) and a reisling from Cali (not so yay).

Awesome show as always Gary!! I can’t wait to try that Sauvignon blanc when I get a chance. Will try as much wine as I can, thats the only promise I can make bro! I will say that I’m not afraid to risk a bit of cash for at least one “wine of the weird” every week or so.

Thanks, have a great weekend all

Joe

Enjoyed your craziness today G.

Do see you any decent wine coming out of some other South American countries (besides Argentina)…like Uruguay or Brazil??

I just referred WLTV to a friend, and re-clicked on this episode to make sure it was a decent sample (whoa, with the rant, IT IS!).

By the way – PLEASE tell me you were kidding about the Jailhouse crew 😉

Wow!! I was ready to go out, put the pads on and get in a three point stance!! What a pep talk GV!! You keep bringing the THUNDER and I’ll keep watching and drinking!!

Gary…….. switch to decaf for your Fridays

Wow. You got a little hot and bothered towards the end. 🙂

QOTD: Probably not. A bottle of wine a day is quite a bit. I’m in for 52, though, maybe even 104.

Yes, I am a lurker. I have been one for about 3 months. This episode, however, has brought me out of my lurkdom (is that a word?). The way you closed the show was not only accurate but extremely entertaining. I will try your 365 wine challenge (but I am not giving up my case of Patricia Green or my case of Bergstrom). Really really great episode. Thank you!

Well-rounded episode – chock-full of information, humor and high-spirits, with Gary at his best.

On second viewing, that rant had a purity you just don’t find in rants these days!

Bill V.

You the man! Floating like a Chardonnay,stinging like a Cabernet.

WHAT PASSION!!!! Your zeal for wine is what makes you so contagious! Loved this episode, and going to seek out the 2 whites.

QOTD: I’m in! Going to get that Cork’d journal stocked with reviews!

P.S. This is a great time to throw out major kudos to one of my favorite WLTV episodes ever, which is TRAINING YOUR PALET!!!

dude, brand new classic episode. I laughed when I read someone write that “you’re totally insane, but I guess that’s okay.” lol. Yeah, it’s okay. I guess. I dunno. You scare me, sometimes, Mr. Gary, with your, how do you call it, enthusiasticness! 😀 Please don’t yell at me no more!

QOTD: I’ll take that challenge. Because, you, me, and my 1 bottle a day habit? We enlargening my liver’s world, aren’t we?

Great idea, Taco John!!

Taco John said:

Gary Vaynerchuk â??08

“Two cars in every garage, a chicken in every pot, and a bottle of Cahor in ever cellar.”

This would make a great t-shirt, with the Gary Vaynerchuk 08′ on the front, and the campaign slogan on the back….. 🙂

Since Gary can’t run for POTUS, though, I say:

Gary for Gov’!! Or Senator!!! (of NJ or NY, wherever he’s living).

One day, we’ll all look back on Friday’s first stump speech, and say to our kids, “I was there.” 😉

That was the best wine rant EVER! Tasting is the single biggest thing I miss about the business & why I appreciate WLTV so much.

Scott

Gary,

Thanks for introducing me to wine library! I had a chance to stop in the other day (after a 2 1/2 hr. drive) and check out the wine selection. I ended up walking out with 2+ cases and some yummy cheese. Kudos to you and your staff. They looked at my list and pointed me to the exact spot where I could find the wine. I also picked up a couple cheaper bottles that were recommended by them (Rhone Rebel) and am happy to report I enjoyed a bottle last night. Good wine for the price! Thanks again.

Great episoce………You have to drink the wine to find out what you like and just reading about it wou’t hack it!!!

QOTD – I’m definitely a variety drinker, with very few repeat bottles, but a bottle a day is too heavy for me. My wife is NOT a wine drinker, so it takes me 2-3 says to finish a bottle. However, a buddy and me ususally do a bottle at least once a week.

Looking forward to your improving Cork’d…….I’m a CellatTracker guy at the moment even though I’m Cork’d also.

One bottle a day, I could live with that, but not sure my waistline could!
Glad to have come across you, via my guy!
Awesome..

are you sure you didn’t have a red bull before the show? Loved it!

QOTD: 365 that’s really stepin out there. I will give it my best shot. Since my weekdays are packed it might make for some interesting weekends.

Gary, I started a whole friggin’ Facebook page for you! (I didn’t have 1 before, and I didn’t want to be left out of all those Facebook apps 🙂

You are definitely what I call an Influencer. This year alone, I’ve been influenced by you to:

-finally get a Myspace page
-finally get a Facebook page
-join Cork’d (which I didn’t know about until I saw it on your website)

And now, I’m finally trying to learn HTML so that I can beautify my Myspace layout. I also intend to create my own full-fledged webpage somewhere after i get some skillz. My kids (both teens), think that it’s really super-cool that I’m finally getting techno-wise like them. It’s really funny to get “invites” from my daughter’s teen friends, and although you couldn’t have intended it, my relationship with my oldest daughter has definitely improved as a result of me coming over to “her” favorite way of communicating. We were cool before, but now it’s even better.

WOW I’m speechless

Gary,

That rant at the end had me on the floor…and inspired…and…uh…I don’t know…it was just AWESOME!!

Interesting disclosure about the microwave thing. Truth is, I have been using the microwave to bring wines up to temperature for years. I never found it to alter the wine, but friends always react violently against it when I mention that I do it.

Your close totally inspired me to show this episode to three of my more snobby wine loving friends. They really dug it. Together we are changing the wine world!

Great show Gary. I got a promotion about six weeks ago, and I have been swamped with work. I am just starting to catch up on episodes, so you may see some comments from me soon on older episodes (working in reverse).

I have been a little slow with wines from Chile. I’m glad you reviewed some whites. I am going to give them a try.

Just when I thought you were going to refer to the “How to build your palate” episode, you brought the thunder. I hope Melissa doesn’t take your rant personally. I know you care enough to be real with us, so the advice, at least on my end, was well received.

Cheers!