He's been called the first wine guru of the YouTube era. Yet Gary Vaynerchuk's bigger distinction may be this: He's a wine geek you'd actually enjoy having over for dinner.
Mr. Vaynerchuk, 32, hosts a daily video blog called Wine Library TV (which he has just rechristened the Thunder Show). To call it educational programming might be a stretch at times. More than one commentator has likened it to Wayne's World - with wine instead of guitars. Mr. Vaynerchuk's mission: to make chardonnay drinking safe for what he calls the "college-kid crew," many of whom presumably are too intimidated to stray far from Coors Light and Jägermeister shooters.
A natural in front of the webcam, Mr. Vaynerchuk discusses a new topic each day from Springfield, N.J., where he co-owns a large wine store with his father.
He begins each segment with a shout out to fans, whom he refers to as "Vayniacs" and "Vayner Nation." Then he launches into a sampling of up to six wines, peppering the monologue with descriptors drawn from his baseball-card and comic-book-collecting youth, such as "Big League Chew," "Cocoa Puffs" and "grape-flavoured Nerds candy."
The pretense-busting approach and street humour have proven infectious. He says he pulls in 60,000 viewers and between 500 and 1,000 letters daily.
More significantly, his star is shining beyond cyberspace. Last August, Mr. Vaynerchuk made his broadcast-TV debut, appearing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. And more recently he was a guest on Ellen as well as appearing on ABC News' Nightline.
On Late Night, Mr. Vaynerchuk encouraged Mr. O'Brien to stuff cherries smeared with dirt and cigar tobacco into his mouth (to better appreciate the earthiness of a Tuscan red) and lick an asparagus spear wrapped in a sweaty sock (to help identify the funky nuance of a red Burgundy).
Even before his run on the talk-show circuit, Mr. Vaynerchuk's foreign audience was considerable, nowhere more than in this country. "Canada is insane for me," Mr. Vaynerchuk said on the phone from New Jersey. "It's by far my second-biggest viewership."
One thing that sets the Belarus native far apart from other high-profile international critics is his embrace of inexpensive wines. "There is a little bit of a New World bomb, shiraz, merlot on steroids, a little Roger Clemens action going on in this wine," he said recently of a $5 Argentine bonarda, reviewed last Saturday while lounging on a couch next to his temporary sidekick, a giant teddy bear clutching a $120 Riedel Burgundy glass. Translation: A tad fruit forward but still impressive.
"It is a beautiful wine for the Super Bowl," he continued, after spitting into his trademark bucket adorned with logos of his beloved New York Jets. "This is a wine that I think would go great with guacamole or with pizza or Domino's or cheese sticks - fun food."
It may sound obnoxious in print, but Mr. Vaynerchuk carries it off with wit and charm. He also exudes two things most wine connoisseurs sadly lack - humility and an occasional twinge of self-doubt. In one episode, he proudly uncorks what he erroneously recalls to be a hot pinot noir "find" before declaring it, and the shipment he'd just ordered for his store, a dud.
Mr. Vaynerchuk also has, in my opinion, succeeded where no one has before, miraculously translating wine appreciation into a form of genuine video entertainment. I would take his homespun dispatches over the pretty vineyards and pedantry of, say, the acclaimed BBC series Jancis Robinson's Wine Course any day (and I esteem Ms. Robinson as probably the world's foremost wine expert and newspaper columnist).
Not surprisingly, Mr. Vaynerchuk says he's been approached by broadcast producers but will take his time before deciding whether to make the leap to conventional TV.
