Dan Taylor

Wine. Whine? WINE!

Ok, if you’ve been reading my humble blog for a while now, you’re most probably aware that my liquid pleasure comes in two forms: Beer and Whiskey (preferably not together though). While I’d consider myself an average connoisseur of the brew, meaning I can tell and taste the differences between a lager, ale, pilsner, hefe-weissen, and if it has a sweet, bitter, or sharp taste to it, I’m still a beginner when it comes to whiskeys.

I feel at some point I’ve almost been spoiled. My whiskey intake thus far has been rather limited. I’ve sampled all of the Jack Daniels brands, and had a glass of Caol Ila, courtesy of Trude at the now defunct ‘Greenfield Lounge’ (may she RIP). And now for the spoils…my good friend Ludwig treated me to a glass of Johnny Walker Blue about a week ago. For the record, the bottle was approximately 10 years old, and we didn’t finish the minor bit that was left. I know JW Blue ain’t exactly what one would call cheap, but drinking one bottle over the coarse of 10 years….yeah, I think that’s acceptable.

Right. Now to the point regarding the posting title. Bigbluebottle has been my go to guy for a long time regarding wine. Admittedly, wine is not my deal, and I really don’t know too much about it. I know what tastes good, and what doesn’t, but at the end of the day, I don’t really know what I’m tasting. I couldn’t tell you about the hint of pomegranate juice melting into the oak barrel flavor.

Bottle’s pretty darn good….but Gary Vee is better. If you enjoy wine (or even if you don’t) I can guarantee that you’re going to like Gary Vee. He’s quickly coming up on his 500th video at tv.winelibrary.com, and what a fun ride it’s been thus far. Gary’s parents owned a liquor store, and working as a bored teenager he began reading Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate. Now I don’t know about you…but as a teenager, I certainly wasn’t picking up copies of Wine Spectator as light reading. In other words, Gary Vee knows his stuff.

So a healthy tip from your non wine drinking author, give Gary Vee a view. In the words of Bottle, “I think this guy might be slightly crazy”, and I agree. Gary Vee is slightly crazy. Everything from his Gonzo style journalism to his impressive collection of Jets memorabilia (to be fair, I’m also a Jets fan), this guy is a bit off. But it is exactly this wackiness that sucks you in a makes you want to watch even more.