Posted on 05/16/2019 12:39:29 PM PDT by ptsal
https://punchdrink.com/articles/guy-who-broke-wine-gary-vee-vaynerchuk/ It’s not until episode 58 of Wine Library TV, the wine vlog that became a sensation in the late aughts, that the show really discovers what it’s about.
Up to that point, it had seemed like a corporate executive’s idea of what a wine Web series should be. Dressed in business casual, Gary Vaynerchuk, a young salesman who ran a 37,000-square-foot wine shop in Springfield, New Jersey, would face the camera, speaking in a calm, bedside manner about the emerging Bordeaux market or cult California cabernets.
(Excerpt) Read more at punchdrink.com ...
Vaynerchuk became a personality—one that combined a streetwise insider’s view with the caustic banter of East Coast sports radio and the sugar-buzz energy of a Looney Tunes character. He wore New York Jets jerseys and wristbands, decorated his set with action hero figures and rattled off tasting notes that sounded like Bukowski poems (a classic example starts at 12:19). Smelling a wine became taking a “sniffy-sniff,” Wine Library TV became “The Thunder Show” and—most famously—the thousands of viewers tuning in each week became “Vayniacs.”
Guests included winemakers such as Nicolas Joly and Heidi Barrett, importers like Kermit Lynch and authorities such as sommelier Rajat Parr and British wine writer Jancis Robinson.
There are two reasons to drink wine, one that is simply imbibing, and the other is to “be somebody”.
The latter dominates the sport.
That’s why a decent bottle is over $20, and a really good wine costs at least $50.
Without the snootiness, no wine should exceed $20 a bottle. The costs of production, and taxes, storage/aging, bottling and transport are just not high enough to warrant a higher price.
While this mindset is now readily prevalent in CA, it’s DOMINANT in France.
My wine costs $3.50 a 750mL bottle..................
I break wind not wine.
I do both from time to time...................
I got to have some Krug Champagne a few years back. Let me tell you there was a whole lot of difference between that and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot.
Best wine I ever had was Cruse Beaujolais.
It was like drinking liquid premium steak.
California is littered with boutique vineyards that are nothing but money pits and tax write-offs.
Also some legit wineries, including some very big ones.
Yes, the Charles Krug reds can be spectacular. Especially with a decade or more in the bottle.
Gary Vee came from a working class family where his dad worked in a wine store then bought a wine store. Gary sold baseball cards as a kid and was a straight-up hustler (in the good sense of the word). He went on YouTube before it was cool and just talked about wine. Now he’s the head of a multi-billion dollar business where wine is only a small part. He is THE force in how to build and market a brand. He deserves every single accolade he gets.
I remember reading an article in, I think Wine Spectator. It was about what wine to serve with Thanksgiving dinner. It was hysterical. Essentially the writer suggested just getting a couple ‘box wines’. He said, ‘Why waste the money on anything else? Your aunt Edna and grandmother aren’t going to know the difference anyway.’
“Without the snootiness, no wine should exceed $20 a bottle. The costs of production, and taxes, storage/aging, bottling and transport are just not high enough to warrant a higher price.”
Eh, not so much. I agree anything over $100 or so is usually too much, but there are plenty of wines (of limited supply) and high quality that simply have no comparison in the sub $50 market.
There’s an enormous difference in taste/quality among wines.
My point is that there is not an enormous difference in the cost of production of those wines.
Yes, anyone can tell the difference in TASTE of an $75 bottle when compared to a $15 bottle.
But the cost of production is not $60 different. Probably closer to $5.
20 months in white oak might cost $10...max. Total, space, barrel...temp control...everything.
I don’t like to drink wine.
As far as I’m concerned it’s only fit for cooking.
“That’s why a decent bottle is over $20, and a really good wine costs at least $50.”
Bullhockey. You can find some outstanding Malbecs for $15 or so.
L
The reds are a little heavy on the tannins.
In some parts of town they keep the Aqua Velva aftershave
in the refrigerated case.
Now a good pint of Pride of Coucamonga Muscatel on the
other hand doesn’t need refrigeration.
For $3.50 I ain’t complainin’.............
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