We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Matthew J. Kaner a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Matthew J., thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about how you got your first non-friend, non-family client. Paint the picture for us so we can feel the same excitement you felt on that day.

Establishing a consulting business happened by accident. Having co-founded wine bars in the Los Angeles area, I started to get speaking engagement opportunities from wine regions around the world, as well as people asking me if I’d help them create wine programs for new wine bars & restaurants being opened. Being named one of the Sommeliers of the Year by Food & Wine Magazine in 2013 sure didn’t hurt. Little did I know that less than a decade later I would switch my focus from owning wine bars & restaurants, and move to a full-time focus on consulting projects. You just never know to where your *due north* may shift.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My entry into the wine industry was worked in retail stores, first in Santa Barbara at the Wine Cask Wine Store, then in Los Angeles at Silverlake Wine. My next phase was to start opening wine bars, first in 2010 with my Co-Founder Dustin Lancaster, we opened Bar Covell. Known for having over 100 wines by-the-glass, but no wine list. We encouraged people to use their words, have a wine “build your own adventure”, and learn the vernacular by redefining terms and giving each guest a small tasting based on the wines they described they were looking to enjoy. Next we opened Augustine Wine Bar in 2015, where we focused on vintage wines by-the-glass. We gave guests the option of drinking liquid history, making wines back to the end of the 19th Century available BTG. I helped a friend keep Dead or Alive Bar in Palm Springs going, and also had a wine-centric restaurant called Good Measure that was open from 2017-2019.

Today, I am focused on consulting and media projects. I own Will Travel For Wine Consulting, where I do marketing campaigns, speaking engagements, event hosting and production, brand advisory, help people open their own wine bars, and make tv shows and podcasts about wine. In June 2023, I also became the Wine Correspondent for Men’s Journal.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Today, my goal is to tell stories and help people emotionally connect to brands and products. We can all decide what a wine smells or tastes like, but those are somewhat subjective details because not everyone has the same sense of smell, or rolodex of language to be able to describe. Instead, my focus is on telling inspiring stories, facts not judgements, with the aim to get each listener/reader/watcher to emotionally connect to the stories I am telling.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My social media audience is based on Co-Founding wine bars that became part of the fabric of the local and national wine scenes. Because of that, I was named Sommelier of the Year in 2013 by Food & Wine Magazine, and in 2019 I was named a 40 Under 40 Tastemaker by Wine Enthusiast. If you’re true to your passions, have stories to tell, and show up each and every day to share your passions, the likelihood of connecting with your audience expands exponentially.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.willtravelforwine.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/matthewjkaner
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthewjkaner
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewjkaner/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/matthewjkaner