A Grape Crusader Moves On | mainefarmsforthefuture.com

Gary Vaynerchuk comes at you like a tornado. Ten minutes into the conversation and the 36-year-old creator of Wine Library TV, the cult online wine show that at its peak was viewed by more than 90,000 thirsty viewers, is in a discursive mood: sticking up for fellow American wine critic Robert Parker, lamenting the failure of France’s Cahors region to promote its Malbec heritage and explaining, passionately, why Bordeaux could be the best value wine in the world right now.

Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk

It’s an intense ride—an hour in his Manhattan office and he’s ripping through the conversation with a squall of sound bites, wine facts and tasting opinions, all ladled on with a hearty dose of New Jersey enthusiasm.

“People focus too much on the top 150 classified growths,” he says of red Bordeaux. “When you start looking at what is happening between $10 and $25 in some of the outer regions, you start realizing these are really, really high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot blends. They won’t sell because nobody has ever heard of them, but when I compare them with Cabernet- [or] Merlot-based wines from California and Australia and other parts of the world, I don’t think there is any comparison. If you talk about Cabernet and Merlot-based value between $10 and $25, I will tell you that Bordeaux is the best value in the world.”

Malbec, the great red grape of Argentina, is one of the most sought-after wines in this country. How did it become such a success? Lettie Teague on Lunch Break looks at the history of the grape and its two-part rise to the top.

Mr. Vaynerchuk doesn’t do subtlety. Point made, we move on. Now to high-end Bordeaux, where he’s keen to stress that between 15 and 20 châteaux have a real chance in establishing themselves as global brands but—and it’s a big but—they also have to be careful not to become “the cult wine of somebody’s father or grandfather’s generation.”

“Bordeaux would be naive not to recognize that Robert Parker was driving the brand equity,” he says. “If the next generation doesn’t care about Château Pichon-Lalande, then you have a problem.

“Nothing,” he says, “ever stays the same.” Not even in his world. Five years ago he launched his daily online wine-tasting show, hyperactively reviewing wines, spitting into his beloved New York Jets helmet and coming out with remarks like “I’m addicted to acid.” Sometimes there was a guest, but more often than not it was just him, sitting behind a desk, with a glass in hand and a few bottles of wine.

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It worked. Fueled by social media, the popularity of his show transformed his small, family-run wine shop, Wine Library, into a multimillion-dollar business and opened up the wine market to a generation of drinkers more familiar with beer. All the while helping to create Vaynerchuk the brand, complete with Hollywood agent, a string of best-selling books and appearances on some of the biggest television shows in the U.S.

Then in August, he walked away. After 1,000 episodes of Wine Library TV and 89 of its mobile-phone app successor, the Daily Grape, he quit, citing an entrepreneurial itch to move on, set new challenges and achieve non-wine-related goals—among them owning the New York Jets.

“I’m an entrepreneur first and a wine critic second,” he says. “You know, creating unique content every day is very time-disruptive. I felt it ran its course.” So now he has co-founded VaynerMedia, a brand-consulting agency with a focus on social media. It’s early days, but so far it has a client roster that includes PepsiCo, Green Mountain Coffee and, you guessed it, the New York Jets. And there is a whirlwind tour of social-media conferences to attend, from Las Vegas to Kuwait.

Does he miss wine? “I was up last night reading the Rhône report,” he smiles, once again becoming more animated. “There is no way I am out of the wine business. No way, it’s in my DNA. People that are reading this in the trade who say ‘R.I.P. Gary Vaynerchuk and the wine business’ may be premature with that.”

As if to illustrate his point, he reels off a swathe of possibilities, including launching a series of wine bars and a Brazilian sparkling-wine brand. “In 10 years’ time, if I think I missed the game and want to get back in the grape business, by all business standards I will still be regarded as a young businessman.”

One who enjoys the odd glass or two of wine, of course.

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Write to Will Lyons at wsje.weekend@wsj.com