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I really didn’t know what to think when Gary Vaynerchuk announced on “The Thunder Show” that he had written a book. Gary’s unbridled enthusiasm is perfect for the medium of video, but I wasn’t sure how his personality would translate to the written word.

Two paragraphs into 101 Wines and I could tell that the same old Gary passion was going to permeate every page. The voice I hear every day when I tune into Wine Library TV was hitting me with exuberant wine descriptions, sports analogies and seemingly unrelated childhood stories – and I didn’t need to rewind to relive all the funny bits!

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101 Wines Guaranteed To Inspire, Delight,
And Bring Thunder To Your World

Oak Monster, Darth Vadar–dark, paintball blackberries and poop are just a few of the many reasons I emailed Gary and asked for a copy of his book–101 Wines Guaranteed To Inspire, Delight, And Bring Thunder To Your World.

I have a love/wanna-slap-duct-tape-on-Gary’s-mouth relationship with “The Thunder Show.” More often than not though, I have quite a few brain-jarring laughs during the show.

Vaynerchuk’s first book, 101 Wines, doesn’t miss a beat and falls in line with what Vayniac’s have come to expect. For example, when describing Louis Jadot’s Gamay, Vaynerchuk writes, “It’s like Mr. Bubbles meets Smucker’s Jam”.

Vaynerchuk has an amazing ability to appeal to a wide demographic with his balls-to-the-wall agenda to learn, have fun, and remove the ‘boring’ from wine. 101 Wines is a great gift for any wine aficionado, newbie or canned beer drinker. Heck, I’m thinking of sending it to my mom (who has never even sipped wine).

At the end of the day, 101 Wines is a superb first print media outing for Gary. I’m hard pressed to imagine how he can one-up himself with the next book but I hope he does it sooner, rather than later.

Get it now people. Read it. Spread the Thunder.

Gary Vaynerchuk.

I admit, I never would have recognized this name two years ago. But in two very short years (perhaps less) this name and the wine-infused, palate-drenching, non-traditional approach to wine his name symbolizes has had an infectious effect on wine consumers world wide.  I had the pleasure of meeting Gary just before the wild fire was set and ever since the first Wine 2.0 event my appreciation and respect for Gary has grown tremendously.

Gary would be the first to admit that he’s not a Rhodes scholar and didn’t study English at Oxford, and as you might guess, neither have I.  He chose video as his medium because he is raw, unrefined, reactionary, and as in your face “Jersey” as it gets.

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