Earlier this month, a guest on Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV caused a bit of a stir.
That is, if you consider over 550 comments and an eight-page forum thread devoted to the episode “a bit of a stir.”
The guest was Helen Buehler, who is a member of the family behind Buehler Vineyards, whose 2006 Napa Valley estate Cabernets have become members of the ‘90+ point review club’.
I missed of all the Wine Library TV hoopla involving Helen, as I’m not a regular viewer of Gary’s show – this has nothing to do with Gary, and everything to do with the fact that I’m borderline ADD and can’t watch any on-line video that’s over 3 minutes long. In fact, I hadn’t seen the episode until Helen contacted me asking if I’d seen it, and generally wondering what my impressions were about the whole thing (my response, in a nutshell, was “I don’t think it’s a big deal.”).
Not one to miss an opportunity to selfishly capitalize on a prominent media event gain insight into the winemaking world, I thought it would make interesting reading to see what Helen had to say about the WLTV episode, get her take on what it’s like to grow up around wine, and see what changes she thinks the Millennial generation will bring to the wine market. Helen agreed, and kindly accepted an interview invitation.
It seems ironic to me that one of the criticisms laid out against Helen from her WLTV appearance was that she lacked passion; while she may not come off on video as being passionate about wine tasting, she certainly comes off as passionate when she’s discussing winemaking.
If you’ve seen Helen’s WLTV appearance, then this interview will give you another perspective on Helen’s place in the wine world; if you haven’t yet seen it, then you can check it out at the end of this interview, formulate your own opinion on Helen’s representation of Buehler Vineyards, and (as always) share your thoughts in the Comments…
1) Okay, let’s acknowledge the virtual ‘elephant in the room’ and get this one out of the way right off the bat: Your appearance on Gary V’s recent Wine Library TV episode caused quite a lot of reaction, ranging from (I’m paraphrasing) “She represents the future of family winemaking in CA,” to “She has no idea what she’s talking about,” to “She’s totally hot, I’d have a drink with her!” Give us your reaction to all of the hooplah.
Ahhh… the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Well the most important thing I want to clear up is that my “I don’t pay for wine” obviously came off wrong. I meant “I don’t pay for these wines.” I was being honest, not snobby. I do pay for wine- Guenoc sauv blanc at Safeway usually- great deal.
“She represents the future of family winemaking in CA”
There are far better representatives than myself. Would love to introduce them to you. Will be doing so via video blog in the near future on www.smellslikewine.com (I couldn’t help myself).
“she has no idea what she is talking about”
I am very green when it comes to tasting notes- I know what I like, I know whats good, I don’t know what currant and “chewy” taste like. I was just keepin’ it real. It was a very Miss Teen USA-esque situation (NOT equating myself to a beauty queen in any way) – a very intimidating situation ( off a red-eye from SF and I had never seen WLTV before, shame on me) where I blanked. Of course I know the ballpark figures on the wine, but I didn’t want to give false info and prices vary depending on where you are making your purchase.
One of the great aspects of wine critique is the language, it’s so descriptive and influential . That being said, I didn’t want to use adjectives that I didn’t identify with. If I’d talked over my head just to pander to an audience I would have come off at best pretentious and at worst a phony. My relationship with wine is emotional and enjoyable.
“she is totally hot, I’d have a drink with her!”
I’m in. If you are ever in the valley, tweet or facebook me- we can cruise up to Buehler and drink there.
2) Is there anything that you want to say to Gary and his viewers?
I love you guys, thanks so much for watching! Endless thanks and respect for the constructive criticism and positive reinforcements. One thing I would like to make clear is that I don’t work for Buehler- I went on my own as a next gen wine kid basically, not as a Buehler sales rep. I would love to hear more from you guys, please share your thoughts and ideas with me! Don’ be shy…. (empirical evidence would suggest that you are not so I have nothing to worry about).
3) Has your mom challenged any of Gary’s readers to a duel or other form of physical combat yet?
Midnight tonight- corner of Grand and Ohio.
4) Tell our readers about Buehler wines and the winery – what’s a typical day like there?
It is a very fun environment run by a small and incredible staff that is like family (or is family). Everyone does a bit of everything… David Cronin is our long time winemaker and Page, my eldest brother, racks wine and also does tours. Misha does sales and marketing, but sometimes jokes that she is in “shipping & handling today”. She has been with Buehler for 13 years. Raul Gloria, the vineyard manager, is like a second father to me and has been here 25 ish years, so has Lorri. Chava has been here 17 years, Sergio and Pavelle, 10 years. My younger brother Joe is the ultimate gardener and wine box-taping master. It’s so casual and unpretentious there… A typical day varies, of course, from season to season. As far as the wines go…
2006 Papa’s Knoll Cab… Named after the block planted in front of the home of my grandparents just up the road – only sold direct from winery or via wine club, 100% cab, only 500 cases made. From our oldest cab vine block which only yields about two tons per acre.
2006 Estate Cab…100% estate grown fruit and our most age-worthy wine.
2007 Napa Valley Cab… 30% our hillside cab fruit with grapes from Napa vineyards that are high quality-low yielding
2008 Napa Valley Zinfandel… Dry farmed, 37 year old vines, blended with some Petite Sirah- made for immediate enjoyment and purple teeth.
2008 Reserve Russian River Chardonnay… limited production, traditional Burgundian techniques.
2008 Russian River Chardonnay… sourced from two Russian River vineyards- techniques include lees stirring, full malo fermentation and sur-lie aging… very velvety.
I didn’t list prices because a) my purpose here is not to sell wine and b) I want you to visit the website! =)
5) When you first contacted me, you mentioned that “my life has ALWAYS revolved around wine – but 99.9% of the time its the part before it gets bottled and labeled. I grew up in the dirt- we are farmers- wine is not glamorous to me- it is fun and messy and wonderful.” That’s a really personal and kind of a beautiful statement; tell us more about that – what’s it like growing up ‘on the farm’?
Meanwhile, back on the farm… Riding the forklift in my dad’s lap, my grandmother making sure I didn’t get my fingers caught in gears, best time of the year: Harvest. Got to stay up late with the crew, eat pizza and stick my coffee mug under the press to drink fresh grape juice. The smell in the air during harvest… pungent and unmistakable. Putting foils on the bottles on our old bottling line (not good for an easily distracted 6 year old), climbing stacks of barrels, discovering the wonders of the wine thief, forgetting to replace the bung and creating Buehler vinegar, killing rattle snakes ($60.00 bounty – sorry PETA), riding my dirt bike through the vineyards, propping up vines I knocked down with rocks hoping Raul and my Dad wouldn’t notice, and (once of legal drinking age of course) drinking lots of great wine and running through the mustard flowers taller then I was…
I think the most influential part of my youth was the cultural learning from our amazing crew. I learned to speak Spanish when I was a toddler, got to listen to stories and cook carne asada on chicken wire and a makeshift fire with lime, salt and Budweiser, delivered beer in the vineyards on the Gator on hot harvest days (admittedly, some beers didn’t make it out of the parking lot), and listening to the best Mexican banda, merengue and baichata you have ever heard. Lots of life lessons learned. Also our dogs – dogs everywhere. No vineyard is complete without dogs. And no, they aren’t Chihuahuas and I don’t put them in my purse =)
6) Do your parents listen to Canadian prog-rock icons RUSH? Because they totally rock.
Who doesn’t?
My dad is the man. Super down to earth, incredibly funny and LOVES his miniature poodle, Bandit (sorry dad, I had to). By far the hardest worker I have ever met. Really recommend visiting the website www.buehlervineyards.com to get the story on how my father and grandfather started the winery. Both incredible men. My mom is the smartest woman in the world- some may disagree but in regards to her WLTV lash out: she is a better mother than a business woman, and I can’t find anything wrong with that.
7) On your WLTV episode, you mentioned a few wine regions outside of CA that you liked. What are your favorites (and why)?
“Wine is not like your wife where you wants someone else’s, but like your son where you prefer your own” – Italian wine dude I met.
I drink local because there are so many amazing wines here and I love to support families I care about and know well- however I love Sancerre because its sauv blanc Mecca, and I’m a fan of Super Tuscans, like Sassicai, because they are born out of the winemakers creativity and passion and embody that as they are combined with tradition- new world/old world techniques. which I find intriguing and delicious. Spent a lot of time in Italy and really enjoyed wines from Montepulciano- classy yet approachable, nice soft tannins. And best of all, it tastes like wine.
8) There seems to be more talk *about* the Millennial generation and their potential impact on the wine market than there is *coming* from Millennials. As a member of that generation who is in the wine biz, what do you see as the changes that Millennials will bring to the market for wine?
New life, vigor, and ideas. There is always a generational ‘changing of the guard’ but it seems like there is a lot of emphasis placed upon the millennials. Honestly I don’t forsee a difference in winemaking or grapegrowing. Rather, I think that the change will be most noticeable in the realm of marketing and the stigma that has been attached to wine for the past 25 years.
Millennials seem a bit less stuffy about things, and the obvious and frequent use of the internet and social networking will definitely play a major role in the future of the wine industry. Some wineries have tried to take this step already (Roshambo comes to mind), but DTC sales and online marketing in particular are still in their infancy. I think that the legacy left by the millennials will revolve around that. I also see a shift from the traditional three-tier distribution toward DTC sales which will open up the market to many small, unknown labels (like Goodfellows, Reynoso and their offshoot Long Gamma) to break in to the market. It is so hard to get noticed by large distributors if you don’t already have a large distribution; it is a sort of chicken and egg situation generally resulting in smaller wineries getting ‘lost in the book’. In a sense, DTC sales through online marketing will help democratize the sales process as a whole.
Our age group is eager to learn about wine, and buy it (44% of millenial buys are $20+ wines compared to 34% of Gen X and 22% Baby Boomers). We want it- we would just like it demystified. This week I begin my classes on the sensory evaluation of wine, fundamentals of enology and fundamentals of wine chem. & microbiology so I can figure things out myself (so begins my Rocky-esque wine trainging montage). This is what the millennials will bring to the table.
9) What do you feel you’re bringing personally to the family business?
Apparently: trouble. Just kidding. I aspire to work at Buehler but need to get my feet wet first, so I work for a start-up wine marketing company. One commitment to the winery I made was I am taking classes in order to get a degree in winemaking, and getting hands on experience as well. My dream is to make my own wine someday and my quest has just begun so I would love to keep you (and anyone who is interested) up to date along the way.
10) Does this shirt make me look fat? (There is a correct answer, so consider your response carefully!)
“No, your face does. Oops, that was the champagne talking” – David Spade in Tommy Boy
[Editor’s note: that is the CORRECT answer!]
Cheers!
Hey dude … nice follow-up. I was hoping Gary would have Helen back. As posted in that comment thread (and several times in a thread on the WLTV forums discussing the episode), Helen seems like a very nice woman and I hope to the extent people were a little harsh, she take the criticism constructively and understand while the Internet and social media is a great tool to get your name out there, it also brings with it some less than civil commentary on occasion. It's the nature of the beast, and shouldn't be taken too personally.
The question I really want answered, though, was did her mom really jump into the comment thread and defend her daughter by insulting all of the WLTV viewers ?
Thanks!
My understanding is that the comment from Helen's mother is indeed legit (and Helen's interview responses also suggest that it's legit).
Whether or not the comment was a good defense or not is up for debate, of course. As a parent, I can understand the impetus behind he response, and I'd be willing to bet it wasn't meant to be directed to all WLTV viewers.
Read right over that … it does indeed appear that was really her mother. Wow. That exchange surprised me more than anything Helen said or did. I understand defending your kids (and I guess that doesn't change even if your "kid" is ostensibly a grown adult), but I thought her digs at the internet forum crowd were shockingly ill-advised. That's a bad group to get on the bad side of, especially in an economy where wineries are struggling to move their merchandise.
Duuuuude. Great article. Great to see Helen get her second chance and to hear her get to explain herself a bit more. It definitely sucks having people judge your entire life based on a 20 minute video. Helen rocks, and the way she described her childhood on the vineyard makes me wish I was there. I really also liked her description of the wine industry as "fun and messy and wonderful", that pretty much just sums up my feelings right there. Gotta love the "www.smellslikewine.com" idea as well. Funny name for a site, and I will definitely be interested in checking that out. She's nuts, working all day marketing wine and then going to take night classes to learn winemaking? That's non-stop wine, all day, every day. Which, I suppose, isn't the WORST thing in the world, but WOW, that's a lot of commitment right there. Excellent to see Helen get the respect she deserves! I'm sure all the Vayniacs will definitely appreciate the second look you are giving to Helen, nice job.
Thanks, Jason. What struck me about this interview and the WLTV appearance is how potentially unrelated wine appreciation / tasting is from winemaking. Ie., winemakers are often farmers at heart, and not necessarily folks who are experienced wine tasters, though I think it's often assumed that those who are in the wine industry have experience in the latter.
I saw the interview and read a few of the comments and wondered what all the fuss was about. She didn't come on the show claiming to be a Dr. Vino or anything. I like her honesty in the review you gave. She is also quite witty. I'm slightly ADD too and with this being one of the longer posts I've seen from you, I can say – I read the whole thing – so it must've been good! Great work, dude.
I like her insight on the millennial generation, wineries could learn alot from people like her.
Josh @nectarwine on twitter
Good to see Helen back again- Glad she seems to have taken the critics of her in a good manor- and what has ben pointed out later was that the criticism(sp) of her was not that harsh originaly more constructive but rather the back and forth amongst the people leaving comments got more and more nasty as they tried to prove their point for and against he answers. Anyway I enjoyed the episode well cause you know she is not bad to look at and….. uh hum nevermind
and yeah next time I am in town Helen and the wife passes out from too many tastings I am def. hitting you up for a drink!
KaD
WTF?
That's not entirely accurate. I wouldn't have come to her defense if it was light hearted. Enjoy your webpage, for what it's worth. Not trying to rehash just keepin it real, that's all.
My thoughts exactly. Just because Helen said "It smells like wine…" everyone got into a little hissy fit. But in no way does that mean she is enjoying wine any less, or is not as qualified to talk about or make wine. On the contrary, with the amount of experience she has built up over her lifetime, I think what she doesn't know about wine tasting or wine making will come much easier to her than most (especially when she's going to be heavily involved in all aspects of wine for 15+ hours a day between her day job and then taking classes at night). I really look forward to hearing more about Helen, and from one "Millenial" in the wine industry to another, I wish her all the best.
I do understand the criticism if someone is representing a winery, though – doesn't mean they need to be an expert taster, but they should have some verbiage ready to describe the taste profile of those wines when they have an opportunity like that. For me, what was missing (or was a lost opportunity, at least) from that WLTV episode was Helen giving some insights about her family's wines. I mean, screw the tasting note, tell me that someone almost crashed the tractor during harvest and you will get my attention! :-)
Cheers!
Dude! On a different note, I was at a wine dinner tonight at Table 31 in Philly for Penns Woods Winery and someone asked me, "Are you 1WineDude?" Hahaha, now I know how you must've felt at Opus One when they asked you if you were Gary Vaynerchuk! Thought you'd get a kick out of that.
HA!!!!! Excellent!!!
I think, when she is representing the family business, she *should* know how to describe the wines to the general public, though.
Having said that, we *do* need to be careful that we're not getting 'wine snobby' on her (or anyone else).
Cheers!
You bring up a great point which is a potential downside of all forum-type of environments – it's sometimes too easy to get nasty within forum threads (that's certainly NOT something specific to WLTV, and in fact I'd say WLTV is generally much more civil than the average Internet forum environment).
Not true, and constructive posting has dried up. You have to follow GV lead or be in his circle.
Great interview. I'm glad to see she recognizes her shortcomings, and that she isn't ready to run a wine operation. It's going to take someone like her in the industry to convince the rest of the wine industry that the millennials are for real, and efforts need to be made to market effectively to this generation, and us Gen-X people as well. Those in Gen-X are reaching that point in their life where they want to start drinking really good wine, and have the money to pay for it. Those that connect to this generation are going to be reaping dividends for a long, long time.
Thanks – ADD solidarity! :-)
Thanks. Great point about the Millennials already 'inside' the industry, and you summarize very well here the reason why I've tried to interview those folks when I've had the opportunity to do so. Cheers!
I am very interested in the statistics she mentioned: 44% of millenial buys are $20+ compared to 34% for Gen Xers and only 22% for baby boomers.
Hopefully we can get her to chime in here and cite her source – interesting stats, and probably the opposite of what one might at first expect…
I'd really like more info on that stat as well. I think it reflects that young wine drinkers start out with California wines, and it takes them a while to find the fantastic bargains like Cotes du Rhone or Rosso di Montalcino : )
Very true – even when the economy is great it's not usually a winning strategy :).
Ha! Excellent! Ie, too much Wine Spectator and not enough bargain hunting. :)
Wow, for everyone claiming that she only had 21 minutes to make an impression, consider the statement. Most companies, and people, get a quick glance or a brief moment. She had an extremely wide window to present her views, share her ideas on wine, and impress an audience. It was the kind of opportunity that most people in marketing would beg for.
Her responses to Joe's questions were certainly more impressive and she obviously has a sense of humor about herself. But that was a significant amount of damage done on that show, and it's not Gary's or anyone else's fault. The wine world is about telling your story and making the most of every opportunity. The good news is that people clearly dig her family's wine and she's going to get more chances.
Good point about the opportunity – they're not easy to come by, especially when talking about the potential reach of a site like Gary's.
Excellent recovery, Helen.
Great interview Helen and Joe! I can totally see a great future for Helen in the wine world, and a REALLY GREAT future for me in DRINKING her wines lol.
Thanks, man.
Knowing Helen, I can truly say she is in fact:
A: Incredibly hot ( and yes I have drank with her ).
B: Incredibly smart, don't let let the bubbly personality fool you.
C: Is very passionate about her wine. There is not a day that goes by that shes not drinking.
D: One of the most sweetest, sincere, compassionate women Ive ever had the pleasure of meeting.
Tell us how you REALLY feel, though, Christian. C'mon, let it out! :)
No disrespect but you're fond of Cabernet Sauvignon you should definitely try some Argentinian wines from the areas of Mendoza, San Juan or La Rioja. I'd personally have some Syrah instead although most locals would favour their Malbec.
Wow. A stellar recovery. Helen appears to have a future in the industry if she can do some homework and keep up the wit (can't say that the looks hurt either). I am extremely interested in the statistics regarding millennial consumption. At first they struck me as skewed but upon further research, they were corroborated. Perhaps, they are not so surprising given that echo-boomers (millennials) have, on average, a higher proportion of expendable income than their parents. With higher income and fewer bills, why not spluge on the finer things in life?
THanks for corroborating that info.!
I watched Helen on WLTV when it came out, and I don't understand why everyone freaked out. She is obviously not as steeped in wine terminology as Gary (few of us are). She didn't do any worse than any of his other guests. I think she represents the next generation of wine just fine: No pretension, no hooplah, no phoniness. If she is interested in trying some Michigan wines, she can be a guest on my show anytime.
Thanks. If memory serves me correctly, even Wayne Gretzky came off as dull when compared with Gary! :-)
She certainly seems more polished this time around. That being said, the WLTV episode left a bad taste in my mouth.
I suppose that's natural – much more 'controlled' environment when you have time to reflect on questions and craft written responses. Not to say that invalidates the WLTV interview at all, just shows another side really.
Having said that, Gary is one of the few people I've ever met who could make me look subdued – I'm probably an 8 out of 10 on the 'passionate scale', but Gary's an 11! :-)
"Controlled environment." The interviewer took a little time with her, that's all. Well done interview. Doing things like interrupting knowledgeable guest, you could call it passion, I call it rude. Not invalid just a glimpse into reality and behind the scenes. There's been more guests with the same problems, he just shrugs his shoulders, oh well.
I really love that you did this interview. HB is hot and when my wife and I go up to the valley, we will look up the vineyard and make a stop.
Thanks.
You might want to not tell your wife about the 'hot' comment before making that stop…
How many episodes has Gary done? He can figure out how to secretly ridicule people in a calculated fashion on the show or the comment section of his forums, but he can’t spend five minutes to assess this girl’s knowledge in the wine industry? This has happened to wine guest, good source! He could have steered that interview. Everyone is a yes man. It’s sad like high school.
Gary must do a lot for people in the wine industry. No one every challenges the guy and it shows. He sells wine? Am I missing something? I must not be up to speed. Must have a lot of people on payroll.
Gary’s changed, not for the better in my opinion.
Too many other places to order, with good shipping deals. The sites not updated enough same old frontpage selection. The RUN IS ENDING Too much Internet entrepreneurial stuff now, lost focus. He’s definitely not the only game in town.
With you @grapegrapetv.
I’m 41 with speckled gray hair, and I challenged him. Tried to keep it between us, never said anything not true. Tell the TRUTH and the guy backhands you. Two many similarities to his comments. Guy calls people "Jerkoffs in his videos" what does that have to do with wine. He better focus his energy on his dying wine site.
THE RUN IS OVER!!! EXPOSED (But first buy his book, he demands a second push. This is true.)
Helen doesn't have to say anything. It's the nature of WLTV, dudes laugh in the background. This girl is great. Now everyone back tracks when it blows up. Damage control GV included.
And how do they feel about SPAM comments?
Why any winery would chance suicide or an embarassing situation like this by going on the show is beyond me. Leave yourself open to a retailer like this is beyond comprehension.
Everything thing with him begins with,"hey look" (insert I'm a good guy.)
Parker's not God, but the guy talked through him at a master tasting. Getting a little big are we? Who does he think he is? He's lost his mind. And the guy backhands me?
Mysterious no, honest yes. But I'm not in his back pocket he's just a retailer to me, another opinion.
DrScott – I think we get the point now…
You don't have to have a smart tone dude, it would have been in one post but you have a space restriction. You must be attached to Gary also.
Gotcha – sorry, didn't realize there was a space restriction… I need to look into that one.
Just for the record: No association with Gary or WLTV, other than the occasional tweet or email ribbing his choice of NFL teams :-).
Awesome interview. I'm glad to see Helen get a fair chance to represent herself. Her appearance on WLTV wasn't exactly flattering, but I think that's only because she didn't conform to the expectation people had. This interview does a great job at showing her unique perspective and knowledge that she gained growing up in the industry. Everyone, even the greenest neophyte, is a couple WSET courses away from enough general wine and tasting knowledge to seem savvy enough to the public eye. However, her experiences are something that can't be faked.
From one Millenial in the industry to another, Helen, I look forward to working with people like you.
Thanks. Nice point about the experience. I am pretty sure that this wasn't your intention, but just in case – it's worth noting that WSET, in my experience, gives you more than just a veneer or appearance of wine knowledge (again, not saying you meant that it didn't… ah, you know what I mean… :-).
Cheers!
Oh yeah, I'm sorry! I only mentioned WSET because I think their courses are amazing, and they're always at the top of my list if someone asks me to recommend a wine education program.
What I meant was just that most people can commit themselves to a formal education program like WSET and (after a lot of studying and hard work) be able to hold their own in the industry–even if they begin with very minimal knowledge. However, like in everything else, it's hard to replicate specialized experience.
Totally understand.
Cheers!
Thanks for doing this interview. I'm glad Helen got the opportunity to express her true personality. I work with Helen and get to experience her witty and hilarious sense of humor on a daily basis. She is intelligent, passionate and one of the most caring people I know. The wine world hasn't heard the last from Helen..
Thanks, Christian!