Gary Vaynerchuk

In: Food

Gary Vaynerchuk, self-trained wine expert,

is revolutionizing the wine industry. His blog, Wine Library TV (affectionately known as The Thunder Show), boasts a cult-like following resulting from his enthusiastic, unconventional, and often irreverent wine commentary. In the name of expanding one’s palate, Gary convinced Conan O’Brien to lick salted rocks and shared samples of dirt and grass with Ellen Degeneres.

With a wealth of knowledge and an entrepreneurial spirit, Gary rebranded the family business as Wine Library. Within a five year time period, Wine Library grew from a $4 million dollar business to a $45 million business.

What raised Gary’s notoriety even more than his business acumen was his foresight. Inspired by sites such as youtube.com and facebook.com, Gary leveraged technology to reach an untapped audience. His daily 20 minute webcasts caught the attention of a demographic new to wine and eager to learn. Within a short time, beer sales were outpaced by wine. While his youthful following broke down barriers in the wine industry, the business world (and Web 2.0) admired Gary for creating a new generation of branding, focusing on the internet.

Gary’s unique identity as both a wine expert and a real person has reinvented the concept of wine tasting for a new generation. His first book, 101 Wines Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World, was released in May of 2008 and is available in bookstores nationwide.