How This Founder Built a Wine Empire From Passion In Conversation with Ian Blackburn

Ian Blackburn is Founder at Learn About Wine, one of the earliest wine education platforms on the internet, launched in 1995. In this episode, Ian shares how a college trip to Napa Valley with Robert Mondavi sparked a lifelong passion that eventually became a 30-year business with over 120,000 followers.

Ian walks us through how he built Learn About Wine from a personal hobby site into a full education and events brand, producing intimate classes, large-scale wine dinners, and virtual experiences. He also opens up about surviving the 2008 recession by selling 5,000 Groupons in a single day and what it took to teach that class nearly 100 times in one year to honour every redemption.

Beyond the wine world, this conversation is packed with lessons for any entrepreneur building an education-led brand, from staying true to quality and reputation over decades to why passion is the ultimate competitive advantage in an AI-driven world.

Whether you are in wine, marketing, or building your own knowledge-based business, Ian’s story is one of curiosity, consistency, and earned credibility.