Gary Vaynerchuk: Walla Walla Thanks You and Farewell
Last Tuesday, August 23, 2011 many “Vayniacs” watched Gary Vaynerchuk bring to his audience his final goodbye.
Gary came onto the wine scene through Wine Library TV in February 21, 2006 and from there he held us captive. This was a significant and controversial time in wine journalism as we watched, not only Gary come onto the scene, but many wine bloggers, as well. After 1,000 episodes of Wine Library TV, the show was retired in March 2011 and we followed him to his new video project called “The Daily Grape” for 89 episodes.He was his own human infomercial with his strong enthusiastic New Jersey accent as he shrieked at his audience like a used car salesman or a mattress king, and those of us who were fortunate enough to meet Gary in person we found him to be soft-spoken, sweet and rather humble. He left us with the impression that he truly did care about his fans – - his “Vayniacs.”
Gary had the ability to break those “snooty” wine barriers for novices and younger generations of wine lovers like no other wine critic could do. The proof that he really cared about wine and his fans was when he told his audience, with conviction that there was always going to be a wine bully and he wanted to “punch them in the face.”
“The one person who did read the Wine Spectator, who tells you what to drink and why the ’97 is better than the ’98. I want to punch the wine bully in the face,” he says. “I want to make … Continue Reading
