Wine, made easy

NEW JERSEY-WABC (WABC) -- For some people, learning about wine can be intimidating.

But a man in New Jersey is bringing it to the people, in an informative and entertaining way.

Eyewitness News reporter Lauren Glassberg has a look.

"Ninety-five percent of the pinot grigio isn't as good as this wine," Gary Vaynerchuk said.

Gary grew up around wine. His father started the Wine Library in Springfield, New Jersey, which began as a small shop and now does more than $50 million in business a year.

"I was born in Belarus, in the former Soviet Union," he said. "My parents came here when I was 3 years old. We lived in a studio apartment with eight family members. We had $100. I mean, this is Great American Dream kind of stuff."

But what Gary enjoys more than selling wine is talking about it.

Every day, Gary records a 20-minute Web cast that now gets about 60,000 hits a day. His style is a bit, well, intoxicating.

Gary makes wine approachable, at any price point and for any kind of wine drinker or sports fan. Gary loves the Jets as much as he does wine.

"It's not only entertaining, it's imaginative," customer Sandie Baker said. "It gets both the guys and the girls watching, because I guess the guys like the football. I don't pay any attention to the football."

His father says that Gary has absolutely helped grow the business. But Gary is just thrilled that people who may not have enjoyed wine before do now.

"I always tell them forget what I say," he said. "Trust your own palette. But I try to guide them to the things that I see in each individual wine."

For more on the Wine Library, visit WineLibrary.com.

To go directly to Vaynerchuk's video blog, click here.

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