If you aren’t familiar with Gary Vaynerchuk, then I urge you to check out his personal video blog and hit Internet show Wine Library TV. Since 2006 Gary has been producing the show in order to educate people who might not have a lot of experience with wine in a completely unpretentious way. Basically he has made tasting and understanding great wines easy and fun for everyone - he describes himself as “the wine guy for the average Joe.”

Tonight, Gary held a live filming of his 500th episode at Crushpad in San Francisco. I finally had the chance to meet the man with the plan and honestly I can’t even express how incredibly talented and warm he is. What a down to Earth guy that knows how to treat everyone as his friend and almost dare I say, as family. The night consisted of a few hours of tasting not only some great wines from local vineyards but also a ton of bottles brought by guests. We tasted an awesome variety of wines from Pinot Noirs to Cabernet Sauvignons to Riojas. I also had the chance to finally meet Gary’s brother AJ albeit very briefly because he was under the weather (hope you’re feeling better!) and a ton of other people I’ve chatted with on Twitter but had never met in person. It was a great night all in all, the episode should be up tomorrow. Check it out!