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- Wine tasting w/ Gary Vaynerchuk
Sooo... I just had the wonderful opportunity to have a 'small' group wine tasting with Gary. Sometime I find him a little annoying on his blog, a little too in your face, but he really is a smart guy. So I thought I'd regurgitate some of what he talked about -- some I agree with, some definitely not. The new regions he liked were Washington state, specifically Walla Walla Washington, Arizona, Croatia, Baja California (interesting), and Douro, Portugal. A few varietals he was pushing were Vino Verde (Portugal) and Albarino (Spain), neither of which I was impressed with. The Albarino was fruity but not full bodied... and I have to admit, I'm still a sucker for my buttery Chardonays. The Vino Verde was interesting, very earthy but also very sour/bitter on the back end, arguably better with food, but not to my palate. The two reds we had, one was a 'copy' of a Chateauneuf-du-Pape but it was too young and hadn't breathed and so I wasnt impressed. However, saving the best for last, the Cab/merlot blend by Rock Island from Washington state was just great. Of course, Im completely biased, I love cab blends. Anyway, thought I'd throw it out there, if anyone has any rec's on Arizona or Croatian wines, let me know. Also, I currently live in Cambridge MA, where sadly it's illegal to ship wine, so any good wine shops are also appreciated.
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455 - Reply by oceank8, Oct 16, 2008.
Glad to see someone talking about Baja! I go to their wine region all the time and LOVE it! Did you try any wines from there? Sounds like overall you had a nice night but weren't very impressed.
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3027 - Reply by Philip, Oct 16, 2008.
Baja! One day Ocean I'm going there. I really really want to rent a car in San Diego and drive down to Cabo...
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05 - Reply by Str8talk, Aug 8.
Gary Vaynerchuk is a fraud and uses his internet "tasting videos" as an avenue to sell the wine that he owns exclusivley. He lies about the % of profit that he makes from these videos and also taints reviews of his own wine so that he can sell more of it. I have been in the wine retail buisness for quite some time and i feel obligated to inform every one that this effiminate version of billy mays took over an illegally run liquor store from his father. I have confirmed from eye witness accounts that garys father, sasha, would have the deliveries unloaded from the distributors trucks then loaded directly into white trucks with NY liscense plates!? Last time i checked moving wine/liquor over state lines is very serious CRIMINAL offense. STOP SUPPORTING WINE LIBRARY WHO CONDUCT THEIR BUISNESS UNETHICALLY.
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3027
- Reply by Philip, Aug 9.
These are some serious acquisitions, and while I can't comment on the delivery issue, as I dont know their operations, I dont believe the blanket statements proceeding it. I know that Gary has given negative reviews to wines that Wine Library carries, and that he's reviewed wines positively that he doesnt even stock.
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0390 - Reply by GregT, Aug 9.
Phillip - why is there no way for a user to go back and edit a post? ? That is an essential feature. The preview before submitting is not the same as a few hours or days to rethink.
Str8talk - you should edit your post or ask that Snooth edit for you. "I have confirmed from eye wintess accounts" is NOT confirmation in any sense. It's what's called hearsay. The Federal Rules of Evidence don't allow that and neither do most other jurisdictions. More importantly, accusing someone of criminal behavior is very serious and opens you up to charges of defamation. And FWIW, your speculation is a load of crap - whether or not a truck has a NY plate has nothing whatsoever to do with how the wine is acounted for and certainly doesn't begin to indicate that something is illegal. They do a lot of deliveries in NY and even if trucks had California plates and made those deliveries, what's the point? The delivery agent used a truck with NY plates to deliver in NY?
Gary is a brilliant marketer - maybe the best in the wine business. He's targeted a similar audience to what seems to be the Snooth audience - younger people with little or no reference points or experience with wine, but who at the same time are enthusiastic and eager to learn. And he does a good job steering those people to wines from varied regions, rather than forcing them into the traditional hierarchy of places like Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Tuscany and CA.
One can disagree with the schtick, but it's worked. Moreover, Gary does well by his customers and he pays his bills to suppliers. I don't need him to teach me anything about wine, but I would never accuse him or you of doing anything illegal without irrefutable facts, not speculation and hearsay.
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0390 - Reply by GregT, Aug 9.
Also Phillip - if you guys nuke that post, which I recommend, then nuke mine too, (except for the first paragraph.)
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3027
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Greg - Actually thats why we don't have an edit button. If someone leaves a comment, and people respond to it, and the original poster would have the ability to go back and change their post, it can be used to distort the conversation.
I've seen forums offer anything from no editing, previewing (which is what we offer), a 15 minute window to edit (ning uses this), the ability to delete but not edit, or full edit rights (which usually result in a note applied to the post indicating its been edited).
I think each option has its pros and cons.
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05 - Reply by Str8talk, Aug 9.
you'll have to forgive my comments, you are correct that these were speculations made by veteran distribution drivers and not my own eyes. And btw, the only way the wine should be able to cross state lines by Winelibrary's transportation is if the wine was already bought by a customer, not if it was being transported to be re-sold to bars in NY where the wholesale prices are higher. A wine retailer, by law, can not re-sell alcohol to another retailer/bar, and that is the allegation that this specific gentlman had made. I can not confirm if this is true or false, but it is an interesting observation made during the height of the russian mafia's blue barrel scandal. Philip- when i said gary taints reviews of his own wines, i did not mean what he had in stock, it was in reference to the labels that he personally owns himself. Gary is one of the best things to ever happen to the wine industry, im just making the observation that most people put in his position could of acomplished everything he did without the inflated ego and autofocus.
