Cork'd, the social networking site for wine lovers, is being acquired by a team led by Gary Vaynerchuck of Wine Library, and includes Erik Kastner of Rails, for an undisclosed amount.
Cork'd has a reported 20,000 members, and provides a space for you to rate and review wines you've tasted. You can make a wine wish list of sorts, and track those you'd like to try as well as purchase. You can also subscribe to others' reviews and discuss the various topics that are wine related. Its concept is much like Shelfari, which provides a similar service for books you've read and want for your library. Considering the popularity of Vaynerchuck's Wine Library and the new user base that Cork'd will provide, the acquisition is expected to provide several opportunities for crossover services.
Vaynerchuck's viral personality is sure to continue the growth of Cork'd. There are also plans for integrating OpenID, SMS functionality, and even some offline tasting parties, for kicks. The already-present success of this niche wine market should result in a good opportunity for all parties involved.
In related news, Vaynerchuck released Wine Labels earlier this year, which started out as a social network but has turned out to become a social search engine for wine.