Wine Enthusiasts, Lend Me Your Ears!

While rushing around campus Thursday afternoon, I happened to run into a friend who I hadn't seen in quite some time. I was happily surprised that the conversation moved beyond the fake dialog you often share with people who you don't plan to bump into. You know the ones who leave you in the same state as when you found them, so unaffected by the nine words or less you probably just shared that you find yourself wondering later on if the conversation even happened. Not because you don't care about their well-being or because you're not wondering what the heck they've been doing with their life over the past 14 months since you last saw them. But because you genuinely do not have the time at that moment to have a "life chat."

Well, this was not one of those encounters.

And although I recognized the value of the short time I had (precisely forty minutes to prepare for my first Consumer Behavior quiz while scarfing down a delicious FireHouse sub), I warmly welcomed the chance meeting. And in return, I made a new friend who introduced me to a whole new world . . .

The new friend was not Aladdin (much to my chagrin, ha!). And the whole new world he introduced me to was not Agrabah, but rather Wine Library TV. I have always enjoyed a great glass of wine, and even took a wine class while in Italy to brush up on my wine tasting skills. However, I had no idea that there were people out there who made a living out of this sort of thing!

Gary Vaynerchuk does. And he does it well.

Gary has achieved "Z" list celebrity status (as he calls it) in the wine world. He has appeared on shows like The Today Show and Conan O'Brien -- which in my book means he's pretty legit. Almost every day, Gary posts a video reviewing a new wine sample on his blog. Not a bad life, if you ask me. And that's not it -- he has made a name for himself in the branding world, offering his advice on his own personal site, www.garyvaynerchuk.com.

An ambitious, lively personality -- and one I certainly will be following! Thanks to my new friend Jimmy for the great tip-off.