Gary Vee unplugs from Wine Library
Wine Library TV has kicked the Jets bucket!
After 1,000 episodes of Wine Library TV (I had a good time with him on episode #771), Gary Vaynerchuk has decided to hang up his signature Jets bucket. Well, sort of. Many of his fans had wondered if one day Gary might leave the wine world entirely to jump to other, more lucrative pursuits such as public speaking, social media evangelism and promoting books from his 10-book deal with HarperCollins. Instead, he has started a new web site and app called the Daily Grape.
Even though he says that he has “retired” from WLTV, he’s more of a wine critic than ever. Why? The fact is that even on WLTV, he was still the Director of Operations of Wine Library, the New Jersey wine store that his dad founded. Much of Gary’s new media personality is built on how he harnessed the power of the internet to exponentially increase sales at the wine store. When I asked him on Twitter, he confirmed that he is no longer the Director of Operations at Wine Library. So now, it seems, he has only his own business to grow.
His new site, Daily Grape, owned by Daily Grape LLC, features shorter videos (seven minutes is the goal) and is optimized for the iPhone. A Jets bucket has yet to appear. Users can maintain a profile that includes wine they like from those featured on Gary’s videos. The videos and app are free but he’s charging $2 for a monthly newsletter. Hopefully, as a wine commentator, he can engage in pro-consumer activities and have an independent voice. The first signs on that are good since he handed out scores of 83 and 87 point scores for two Bordeaux (that I had never heard of), thus resisting the trend to only hand out scores 90 points and above. He also taped a show at a winery but refused to evaluate their wines on camera, saying he would feel awkward giving the wine a bad review.
Best of luck to Gary!
On March 18th, 2011 at 11:37 am ,Scott McReynolds wrote:
Bittersweet news. He definitely deserves it. I started watching WLTV about 4 1/2 years ago when I first started to get in to wine. He taught me a lot about more than just wine. Always willing to connect with people. He was actually the first person to post on my Facebook wall back in the day.
To be honest, I don’t watch it near as much as I used to, but I’m sure there are plenty of folks out there that can still learn a lot from him.
On March 18th, 2011 at 11:55 am ,Jessica Fialkovich wrote:
Congrats to him on the new endeavor, probably better for him personally to be able to focus on his own pursuits and turn the WL reins over.
On March 18th, 2011 at 12:40 pm ,Gary vaynerchuk wrote:
Thnx Dr. V and Scott u better download the APP 😉 I am doing 7 minutes for u bro 🙂 and WL is always and will always be my family business so I have much love for it and Dr.V u better sign up for the newsletter cause it’s $2 for a week and soon $4 🙂 Hope u can make a cameo on DG too 😉 I will see u in 767 episodes 😉
On March 18th, 2011 at 1:13 pm ,pam wrote:
I think it’s totally suspect that his first post is on a huge promotion from Bordeaux producers going after the Whole Foods market. All the Whole Foods stores have big displays, printed promo booklets from the Bordeaux wine association, etc. – so how consumer and independent is he really?
On March 18th, 2011 at 1:23 pm ,Scott McReynolds wrote:
@garyvee,
Of course I’ll download the App! A wine app for my iPhone? I am powerless to resist!
–Scott
On March 18th, 2011 at 1:27 pm ,Dan D. wrote:
Pam, giving scores of 83 and 87 lends some credence to his independence, doesn’t it?
On March 18th, 2011 at 2:02 pm ,Dan D. wrote:
I should add, not that 87 is in any way a poor score. I happily drink plenty of wine that I would score 87, if I scored wines at all.
On March 19th, 2011 at 4:47 am ,Frank wrote:
I’ve always enjoyed Gary’s enthusiasm and the way he talks about and reviews wine. He taken the air out of a lot of the pretentious windbags that have dominated wine reviews
My only question for Gary is if he’s being paid for appearances at wineries, retailers or restaurants?
On March 21st, 2011 at 10:24 pm ,Chris Parente wrote:
Gary definitely seems to walk the walk. I hope he CRUSHES it. Downloading the app shortly.
On March 21st, 2011 at 10:27 pm ,Chris Parente wrote:
No I’m not — requires OS 4.1? Bummer.
On March 29th, 2011 at 1:32 am ,pam wrote:
Dan D, well I know what you’re saying but something in my journalistic experience makes my sniffy sniff detector go on alert…maybe he’s not getting paid to rate the wines higher than ever, but just to cover them…that’s a pretty big deal for your first show. I would also wonder why Whole Foods? Why not start your first show in your own place? There are many things to like about Mr. GV, but in a new venture, why do your first show in Whole Foods and about Bordeaux? I smell a deal somewhere. Or product placement at a minimum.
On March 29th, 2011 at 12:20 pm ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Hi Pam –
Gary’s tweet from today provides some insight as to how the wines are selected for the show:
Does Bordeaux currently have a promotion going on? Certainly the region has had a hard time with younger drinkers, presumably the core of Gary’s audience. But it’s hard to see how his scores of 83 and 87 from the first episode would help them much.
On August 23rd, 2011 at 2:46 pm ,Gary Vaynerchuk quits daily wine videos | Dr Vino's wine blog wrote:
[…] how Gary Vaynerchuk concluded what he said was his final wine video. (He had previously announced stepping down from his position at Wine Library.) I was once a guest on Wine Library TV, aka the […]