Social Media as Your New Business Platform

Juliette Powell

You’d assume that as the son of owners of a small mom-and-pop wine shop in New Jersey, Gary Vaynerchuk would have started tasting wine at an early age, if only to better understand the fine distinction from vineyard to vineyard. Gary’s parents, however, didn’t see it that way. They insisted he refrain from drinking until he was of legal age. So, instead, Gary learned the family business from the ground up—literally. In the schoolyard, Gary educated his palate to discern the nuances in his beloved wine by tasting the very elements that give wines their unique qualities: dirt, grass, and rocks.

From the beginning, Gary saw things a little differently from traditional wine connoisseurs and ...