Matthew Kaner
Wine Director+Partner of @barcovell , @AugustineWineLA , Dead or Alive Bar , @GoodMeasureLA / lifelong @dodgers fan
/ WILL TRAVEL FOR WINE
Wine is sacred in Santa Barbara, where Matthew grew up. A new rockstar region in the wine world was being exposed while Matthew pursued his first love of music as a career. Funny thing is, all he ever wanted was to be able to afford a nice bottle of wine. A college roommate of Matthew's at the University of California at Santa Barbara came from a family that coveted wine, collected wine, sought the world over for the finest wine and food pairings. Grand Cru Burgundy, Grower Champagnes, aged German Rieslings, Madeira from the late 19th Century. This was Matthew's introduction.
After leaving a restaurant manager position at his high school job, Matthew decided to test the waters in the wine industry. The Wine Cask was hiring for a sales position in the wine store, an interview was conducted, and days later Matthew began working in a job that changed the course of his life. Leaving Santa Barbara had always been on his mind, and the leap from comfort to unknown became harder and harder to avoid. It was time to move to Los Angeles.
Upon arriving in Los Angeles in August of 2006, Matthew was working as a tour manager and also doing some of his own touring under Matthew Kaner & the Coalition. The house that brought Matthew to Silverlake was rented by a screen writer who was traveling to Europe for three months to teach a screen writing class, left on his desk was a postcard for Silverlake Wine. Matthew put the address into Google Maps and realized it was less than a half mile away. An invite to the Cinespia Cemetary Screenings left Matthew with the need for a bottle of wine and an opportunity to check out Silverlake Wine, this proved to be a serendipitous occasion. Looking at every bottle in the store, Matthew recognized a lot but also realized he didn't know many of the wines at the shop. This place was special. A week later Matthew emailed along with a resume to ask if Silverlake Wine would need any help, as he had time in between tours to work. He was offered a three day a week position. It turned into a full-time job. It turned into a salaried position. It turned into his life. Three and a half years later, Dustin was opening a new wine bar in Los Feliz and he asked Matthew to join him at Covell as manager/wine director. The answer was certainly yes. It all started over a bottle of wine.