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Gary Vaynerchuk in Episode #285 of Wine Library TV.
Two nights ago, a top television exec dined at Babbo and I was his sommelier. As I masterfully executed a long-pour across the table, I hinted at my desire to host my own prime-time wine television show. He said, “I think you’re right. I was speaking with the president of the Food Network over lunch yesterday, trying to convince him that this was a good idea. America is ready for it."
With TV programs, films, and scores of books, food has increasingly become part of the mainstream media. Meanwhile, though wine consumption remains on the rise and despite the success of the movie Sideways, wine rarely appears on national programming.
Not if Gary Vaynerchuk has anything to say about it—and he has something to say about everything. Vaynerchuk hosts the popular vlog (video blog) WineLibraryTV.com and made an appearance as a featured guest last night on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Lenn Thompson sees this move as groundbreaking and speculates that this could usher in a whole new genre of wine programming: "Maybe we’ll see him star in a new show called Top Drunk. Or Hell’s Cellar? Maybe the Next Wine Network Star?"
About the author: Joe Campanale is a sommelier at New York City's Babbo and is the food and wine editor at Debonair Magazine. Joe is a Certified Wine Educator, Certified Sommelier, and is pursuing his master's degree in Food Studies at New York University.
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8 Comments:
We have one on WNYC TV already!
Bubba at 5:51PM on 08/02/07
"UNCORKED"
Bubba at 5:54PM on 08/02/07
gary has suggested in the past he's not interested in TV and rebuffed interest from TV execs, he likes the internet too much and thinks it's the future. I don't buy it, if the deal is right. seems like too much of a businessman to pass up a good opportunity.
alktraz at 6:22PM on 08/02/07
I agree. With his whole "Vaynernation" and "Vayniacs" it seems like he's trying to build a TV persona. The Jim Cramer of wine?
joecampanale at 11:50AM on 08/03/07
Here's a link to the Conan episode:
http://www.viddler.com/explore/djsteen/videos/69/
joecampanale at 12:04PM on 08/03/07
Great show.
dougcress at 1:23PM on 08/03/07
Thanks for the link to the actual show, Joe. I'm not a huge wine guy (I'm one of those lame people who get severe headaches from it), but I love watching Gary's videos.
Adam Kuban at 4:41PM on 08/03/07
I really like Simply Wine with Andrea Immer, though I wish it were on a channel more accessible like Food Network instead of Fine Living. Other than that, one of the few television chefs that consistently mentions food and wine pairing is Ming Tsai, who I applaud for moving to PBS but am sad because my local affiliate doesn't carry his new show.
arttarte at 7:37PM on 08/03/07