Has Gary Vaynerchuk Gone “New World” on Us? Or Just Crazy?
I love my readers. You guys are the best.
Within minutes of Gary’s latest episode of Wine Library TV going live, I had a half dozen emails in my in box about it. As you can see above, he tasted Grapes of Roth 2002 Merlot on todays show and…well…he didn’t come away impressed.
He even went so far as to call it a "pedestrian effort" and he says he’s had several bottles of $25 Bordeaux that compare. Of course he also said that it’s built to age. Why would you want to age a pedestrian wine, Gary?
We all have our own tastes, but I have to say that his 86 score for this wine surprises me, mostly because Gary and I have similar palates. He digs the funky, the nuanced, and usually eschews fruit bombs and simple, sweet-tasting fruit. You guys know that that is how I roll too. But, I also happen to love this wine. Is it Long Island’s best? I can’t pick any single wine, but it’s a top 10 wine to be sure.
But, has Gary V gone "New World" on us? I think maybe he has. Oh, and Gary, you can buy that wine direct from Roman Roth himself for $50 a bottle. Something tells me that some weird New Jersey direct shipping law is to blame for WL’s price.
Let’s keep an eye on Gary. If he goes "New World" let’s call him on it. Who needs yet another popular ‘critic’ who is in love with one-dimensional adult koolaid?
We’ll know that he’s gone New World when he says he prefers Napa cab franc to Loire Valley renditions. Luckily, that hasn’t happened yet.
Gary V’s mantra has been “trust your palette, don’t listen to the critics.” I agree. Don’t listen to Gary V. one this one.
sorry, typo, meant “on this one”
new world now way, listen we all have our own palates and I am far from perfect, maybe I am way of or crazy? who knows it just didnt do much for me
stay well all!
gv
Gary recently freely admitted that he’s been leaning a bit more to the New World. Our palettes change, just like we do as people. Maybe he’ll lean to the New World for a while, maybe he’ll lean back. So what? Maybe today I like green, maybe tomorrow I like blue. So what?
What does that Vaynerchuk guy know, anyway?
We have to show some pity for poor Gary! When the Giants do so well, Jets fans can become quite conflicted. We are seeing a manifestation of this deep internal conflict.
I heard a rumor that in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl, Gary became so distraught that he chugged, straight from the bottle, a bottle of ’97 Screaming Eagle, yelling out loud how big and fruity it was as Eli passed the winning touchdown. Shamefully, he paid full auction price for it.
Not every critic hits a homer every time.
I’m puzzled by the wielding of the phrase “New World” as some kind of put-down: A lot of good wines come from the New World (iow non-Eurasian/African parts of the world).
Can’t we all just get along?
“Not every critic hits a homer every time.”
That’s a very interesting comment because it raises the question, is Gary a critic, or is he a guy who runs a very big wine store? Seems to me that it’s difficult to do either of those well, and probably impossible to do both. BTW Gary is not making friends among producers with some of his less than kind reviews.
Lenn, I think it is very difficult to objectively review a wine without considering QPR when you know the price beforehand. Grapes of Roth is a pretty darn expensive wine. I suspect his review would have been far more amiable if he thought it cost $20.
Just because Gary plays with dolls doesn’t mean you have to as well, lol. I agree that the QPR is the gorilla in the room. There are specialized taste buds connected to your wallet that affect satisfaction.
Lot of good comments here. I agree with TasterB.. nothing wrong with “New World”!
Also agree with the QPR comments. Unfortunately it is what it is when it comes to LI wines, and GoR is one of the highest priced wines on the Island.
But none of this will stop me from enjoying and supporting Long Island Wine Country!