Gary Vee's 101 Wines: Bringing the Thunder

                         

You may know him.  He's that enthusiastic, energetic, lovable wine video blogger that you can't get enough of.  Now he has a new book that will inspire anyone to get out there and help change the wine world.  Yes, I'm talking about Gary Vaynerchuk and he's come out with 101 Wines: Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World. 

At an early age, GV actually pushed the world of wine away.  He was too young to drink it when he started working in his father's liquor store so he didn't have any way to develop a personal affinity.  In fact, he'd rather be hanging out with his school friends having fun.  However, one trait he did have at an early age was an entrepreneurial spirit.  First it was selling lemonade, then trading baseball cards.  His wine epiphany came while working under his father when he began reading Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate; he realized that people collected this "juice."  A light bulb turned on and he worked with his father to transform the liquor store into what is now Wine Library, one of today's most successful wine retailers in the U.S.

The first thing GV makes clear regarding his book is it is NOT a wine guide.  Its purpose is to help you explore wine for yourself and make up your own mind about what's good and what's bad based on what you like.  He states that several things about the current state of the wine world need to change.  Don't rely on the next Hollywood Blockbuster to tell you what great wine is.  While it's helpful to use critic picks, such as Robert M. Parker Jr. and even GV himself, their ratings should not be the deciding factor, your palate should.  Once you get into wine and think you know everything, don't act like it!  Its rude and ignorant to talk down to people who think differently about wine than you do.  In the end, GV's message is clear: try any and all wines to develop your own personal rating system of what you like and dislike and rely on it, not what other's like and dislike.  The best way to do this is to learn by doing - taste, taste, and taste some more.  And what's more important, have fun doing it and involve friends, family and others!

So why, you ask, did GV write a book listing 101 wines he thinks "bring the thunder"?  While they are the wines that he enjoyed the most, he's not stating they are the best.  Again, it's not meant to be a rated wine guide, but rather more informational.  He's merely giving you a path to travel down, a wine journey, to get you started in exploration.  Whether you're a beginner or an "expert" in wine, he just wants you to have fun trying them and not be afraid if it doesn't have a 90-point rating behind it.  The wines are of all styles, from all regions, and of all prices.  For each wine, he provides a catchy one-liner heading.  Sometimes he uses what he calls a "palate primer" to explain a flavor.  If it's an uncommon grape, he'll explain its origin.  He also provides history information, among other facts.  I also like that GV provides a web link to the vineyard/winery so you can find out more on your own. 

A section in the end of the book lists wines he suggests may be suited for specific occasions.  Again, they are just recommendations - they're not written in stone! 

I work in a fine wine shop and nothing thrills me more than a customer who says, "ah well, I've never had this before so I might as well try it and see if I like it."  I wish more people were this adventurous when it comes to wine. 

101 Wines is an easy, fun, interesting, highly informational read sure to "inspire, delight, and bring the thunder."

As the infamous Wine Library TV tag line says: you, with a little bit of me (GV), we are changing the wine world, whether they like it or not!