Inspiring Conversations with Ian Blackburn of Learnaboutwine.com

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ian Blackburn.

Hi Ian, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Ian Blackburn, CSW, Educator and Event Producer
Ian Blackburn discovered the wine industry while visiting the Napa Valley as a College Student at Cal Poly Pomona. As an organizer, Ian’s involvement with the AIWF (American Institute of Wine and Food) resulted in a special meeting with Margaret and Robert Mondavi. – Ian was smitten with wine, the people and the fact that at the time – few people knew the stories that Ian loved to tell.

Now in his 30th year, Ian is considered one of the region’s best wine educators and works for his 125,000 followers (Total Reach),

See the list of industry leading classes, tastings, dinners and travel experiences at Learnaboutwine.com

Timeline
1995 Learnaboutwine.com was created
2003-2005 TASTE on Two Rodeo – weekly tastings on Rodeo Drive
2005 LASupportsLA donated $250K to Hurricane Katrina Charities
2007 Learnaboutwine was featured on ABC’s The Bachelor
2009 Started Beekeeper Cellars – my own wine brand
2010 Started studying with the Institute of the Masters of Wine – London
2010 Sold 5000 Groupons in one day to survive the great recession
2016 Appeared in the Movie “Sour Grapes” – Yes, Rudi K was originally a student of Learnaboutwine
2019 Surpassed 1 million dollars in Charity donations through our various events
2020 Pivoted to our own retail store called Merchantofwine.com
2022 Appeared in the Movie “A Perfect Vintage”
2023 Restarted in person classes
2025 Reopened our classroom and event space in Downtown

Websites:
ZoomIntoWine.com – virtual tastings and education
MerchantofWine.com – procured wines and my wine of the month club
LearnAboutWine.com – wine education and events

Social Media (125,000 Followers):
Personal Instagram – @ianblackburnpresents
LearnAboutWine Instagram – @learnaboutwine.
Facebook – @Learnaboutwine @IanToddBlackburn @IanBlackburnPresents
Youtube – @LearnAboutWine @Merchantofwine

IAN BLACKBURN, CSW – Society of Wine Educators

Founder of Learn About Wine
Professional Sommelier – Click Here to See LinkedIn
2nd Year – Master of Wine Student (2014) | JWE – Junior Wine Executive

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In the beginning – we started learnaboutwine as a hobby…. we grew quickly and steadily, and grew some more… we were invited to do great things…. and we turned it into a business.

I left my six figure career position to become an entrepreneur. We exploded with oppertunities – appearing on the Bachelor TV program during its highest rated season (2007 – officer and a gentleman) – we were involved in a huge number of amazing enterprises and filling the wine needs of one of the largest wine markets in America.

December of 2007 we produced over 1 million dollars of holiday party’s… The great recession of 2009 ended that – we produced zero dollars of holiday parties and still have seen very little of that return. Pharma business was our largest customer and laws restricting spends and entertainment took that away…. we had to build our business around ala carte programs and that is what we did. Wine Camp was introduced on Groupon and we sold 5000 of them in one day! That is the good news – the bad news is that we hosted wine camp over 100 times in the follow year – to keep us afloat.

We slowly watched all boats in the harbor return to the new normal and introduced programs like STARS of Cabernet and STARS of Pinot Noir to the marketplace… major market events that brought a new energy to our business.

We then released a Credential program called Learnaboutwine School – (AKA LAW SCHOOL) where you have to pass our BAR exam (Beverage Aptitude Review).

We resisted the idea of trying to do things in other markets – Los Angeles is a Mega market and we should be able to find a few dozen clients in a market of 20+ Million people..

We were also not too worried about competition – as we want to remain like Switzerland and help all people interested in wine succeed. In fact, many of our former team are now thriving in the areas of wine expertise that they occupy.

The Pandemic was the next big test. In Feb of 2020 we sold our home to create enough capital to open a wine boutique – a special event center and pop up dinner venue…. that never opened. Fortunately we already had the wine license and it allowed us to open our wine store – and we flipped the script and turned this beautiful classroom location into a warehouse…. delivering wine during the pandemic. We even started hosting ZOOM based classes, dinners and events – that really took off until the market returned to the new normal.

In 2023 – we moved our “warehouse” to a warehouse and then in 2024 we set out to reopen a classroom location which we finally found in 2025 back in the original building we use to own in… now we rent.

We restart our wine classes, and events – with the same passion and continue to innovate the space. Wine will test us all – we will be nimble and bend – and today we are producing industry leading programs that few could stomach to create. We work with the best venues from Santa Monica to Beverly Hills to Downtown and we will produce close to 100 events in 2026 all while delivering wine from our Merchantofwine.com website.

We’ve been impressed with Learnaboutwine.com, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Established in 1995 as the first wine education website on the internet…
Learnaboutwine.com is the center of wine education and events for Los Angeles

We host:

Introduction and Intermediate classes and tastings
– our class www.winecamp.com has hosted over 100,000 students in the last 27 years.

Advanced tasting events

Major Market Trade and Consumer events with a Charity component

WSET and LAW SCHOOL credential programs

VIP WINE TRAVEL

Industry leading dinners and tastings of our own creation and production.

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
www.merchantofwine.com – we went from being an inexpensive source during the pandemic to a highly selective wine source that does not carry wines you find at the grocery store… we support smaller producers of merit and fight for the future of wine.

We also offer FREE delivery on Tuesday and Fridays in Los Angeles (*$100 miniimum to qualfy)
We *ship outside of LA for $20 inside California and $40 flat outside of California where legal.

I present our selections as if you were visiting a top restaurant but with very competitive prices.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.learnaboutwine.com
• Instagram: @learnaboutwine.com
• Facebook: @learnaboutwine.com
• LinkedIn: @IanToddBlackburn
• Youtube: @learnaboutwine.com
• Yelp: @learnaboutwine.com

Image Credits
Credit Bailey Sarian