Former Microsoftie's site the toast of the wine world
SEATTLE -- From his cellar in Seattle, Eric LeVine has become a star in the world of fine wine.
Few people know more about wine than LeVine. His personal cellar has thousands of bottles from around the world.
And his friends think he's a little obsessed with wine.
"Yes, of course, except for the wino friends. We're peas in a pod," he said. "Hard-core. Obsessed."
The former Microsoft guy combined his love for wine and skill with computers. And that's how CellarTracker.com was born.
"CellarTracker started as a tool specifically to let collectors track their cellars," said LeVine.
Every new bottle is scanned and labeled.
"When I let a couple of friends use it, what surprised me overnight was that we found ourselves sort of glued to seeing what each other was opening, and our impressions that we were posting," said the creator.
The site caught on fast with the rest of the wine world, too. It's now used by almost 100,000 people with more than 16 million bottles of wine. And every day, there are around 1,500 new wine reviews.
Now LeVine is taking it to the next level, launching a sister site called GrapeStories.com to bring the reviews and average wine drinkers together.
"Wine is an inherently social thing. This is something to have with a meal, to share with friends," he said.
LeVine never thought tracking his own cellar would turn him into the Bill Gates of wine.
"Ah, no, I don't want to be the Bill Gates of wine. I'm just a tech geek," he said.
But to wine lovers around the world, LeVine is now a star.
Few people know more about wine than LeVine. His personal cellar has thousands of bottles from around the world.
And his friends think he's a little obsessed with wine.
"Yes, of course, except for the wino friends. We're peas in a pod," he said. "Hard-core. Obsessed."
The former Microsoft guy combined his love for wine and skill with computers. And that's how CellarTracker.com was born.
"CellarTracker started as a tool specifically to let collectors track their cellars," said LeVine.
Every new bottle is scanned and labeled.
"When I let a couple of friends use it, what surprised me overnight was that we found ourselves sort of glued to seeing what each other was opening, and our impressions that we were posting," said the creator.
The site caught on fast with the rest of the wine world, too. It's now used by almost 100,000 people with more than 16 million bottles of wine. And every day, there are around 1,500 new wine reviews.
Now LeVine is taking it to the next level, launching a sister site called GrapeStories.com to bring the reviews and average wine drinkers together.
"Wine is an inherently social thing. This is something to have with a meal, to share with friends," he said.
LeVine never thought tracking his own cellar would turn him into the Bill Gates of wine.
"Ah, no, I don't want to be the Bill Gates of wine. I'm just a tech geek," he said.
But to wine lovers around the world, LeVine is now a star.