In today’s New York Times piece Gary Vaynerchuk reveals why at the end of the day he’s just a ‘Storyteller.’

As Eric Asimov writes,

Few people had ever heard of Mr. Vaynerchuk in early 2006, when he posted his first episode of Wine Library TV on the Wine Library Web site.

Before long his high-volume, hyper-enunciated delivery, sprinkled with bizarre tasting analogies and unlikely stream-of-consciousness departures, had earned him a rabid Internet following, along with ridicule from detractors in the audience. He was called a clown and the Human Infomercial, whose over-the-top style was dumbing down wine. Yet his fan base kept growing. He estimates his audience for each episode of Wine Library TV (he’s just recorded No. 733) at 90,000 people, and he has nearly 900,000 followers on Twitter.

The numbers have made Mr. Vaynerchuk not only a wine industry phenomenon, but a social media superstar who’s being held up as a role model for using the tools of e-commerce to succeed in any business.

Online marketing trailblazer Gary Vaynerchuk (VAY NER CHUK) is a 33-year-old entrepreneur whose dual identity as both business guru and wine guy has made him known as the “Social Media Sommelier.” A self-trained wine expert, he revolutionized the wine industry with his video blog, Wine Library TV (affectionately known as The Thunder Show), and grew his family wine business from $4 million to $60 million in five years.