Wine 2.0: Wine Library TV

I've been meaning to post about Wine Library TV ever since Diggnation put it on my radar, which was a while ago. I hadn't gotten to it, but as host Gary Vaynerchuk's guest appearance on Conan O'Brien last night was big news on the geek circuit, I think now is the perfect time to talk about it.

If you're interested in wine but haven't heard of Wine Library TV (yet, because if you haven't, you will) you should definitely check it out. In addition to being on Conan, he was also interviewed recently in Time, where he is described as "more hyper than Emeril, more cheerful than Rachael Ray, more street than Bobby Flay and cockier than all of them combined." An article in Slate described the show as "Wine Geeks Gone Wild." The Food Network may have given this country the foodie bug, but it warms my heart that it's a vidcast by a New York Jets fan from New Jersey that will make this a nation of wine geeks. Only in America can a guy on the internet compare wine to "big league chew and to your leather baseball glove" (ABC News), spit into a New York Jets bucket, and then get Conan to eat dirt on national television. I'm sure there are plenty of oenophiles crying foul, but in my opinion, the more wine appreciation there is here, the easier it makes it for me to enjoy and learn more about good wine.

Gary's rise to fame has also a been a great 2.o social networking experience. I saw his announcements about the Time interview and the Conan appearance on Twitter, saw (and participated in) the responding congratulatory and good luck tweets, and then followed along as he sent out updates from the Conan set. It's a well-connected and entertaining new world, folks, and I'm excited to be a part of it.

Keep on bringing the thunder, Gary, you'll make Vayniacs of us all!