Despite my physique, I am feeling a bit Slim Shady meets Ricardo Montalban (from Fantasy Island) in this moment. "Hello my name is…." My name is....Shawn Burgert; some call me the Wandering Wino. I have been given the honor to be your social media, blogging Mr. Roarke for the Wine Bloggers' Conference AKA #wbc14, to be held in Santa Barbara County this July. 

While I do not rap, or own a white suit, my purpose the next several months will be to help, via social media, wine bloggers for general questions about visiting Santa Barbara County. There is no doubt I am glad to share suggestions to WBC travelers; however, I must decline requests for umbrella cocktails, collect calls from jail, and airport pick-ups. Secondly, I will help share content for the region on the SBC Wine blog.

So to kick off the party, I suggest two main social media hash-tags: #wbc14 of course, and for our region: #sbcwine. Going forward, all official SBC posts will be on sbcountywines.com, with a different writing style. All posts on Wandering Wino are my own, unfined and unfiltered.

My hope is to connect with as many people as possible in the coming months and, of course, in person at the conference. I can easily be found on Twitter @awanderingwino The "a" is used only on Twitter and Youtube. The link for both Twitter and Facebook can also be found on the top of my home page. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for our gracious host - @sbcwines.

I worked the restaurant industry for 10 years, and learned that wine was work. Despite being a beer drinker with a sommelier on staff, I was expected to possess some wine knowledge. One of the last places I worked had bottles on hand that cost more than my car in the parking lot.

In the twilight of my restaurant life (15 years ago), I began touring California wine country, with a heavy helping of Santa Barbara. Back in those days, there were a lot fewer wineries, and I intended to cover them all. Santa Maria Valley and Santa Ynez Valley were the lone Santa Barbara County AVA's, long before Sideways, and a need for reservations at the Hitching Post II.

Along the way, I've managed to learn a bit about the region, store up some great Santa Barbara County memories, and retain a bit of a mental hard-drive of fantastic Santa Barbara wines. While my palate preferences may have adjusted four or five times along the way, I can still recall consuming several specific wines by the gallon. Fast forward to late 2010 when I decided to take a look at the industry and region with the Wandering Wino platform. 

Having had family in both television and photography, my interest flourished in both. What started out as website video content with wine industry professionals turned into a full-tilt video production service. As one who produces video and photography, I am rarely seen without my camera. I have interviewed winemakers and industry professionals from Washington to California. In many cases, I'll have an hour or so of video content that I review prior to editing. While most of the video hits the so-called cutting-room floor, I do benefit from the knowledge of these industry experts.

One of the most unexpected aspects along my path was being invited to do a weekly wine segment on radio (KVTA 1590). While it may have taken me a few minutes to find AM on my car stereo, it is full tilt radio with 45k listeners from Buellton down to Westlake Village. More recently, I am working with a company offering assistance to restaurants, for their wine programs.   

I have even written a few things more journalistic in style, and much less narcissistic. I owe a debt of gratitude to those I have learned from, as I continue in wine-blogging. My hope is to learn more at WBC14.  I really look forward to seeing some of my wine-blogging friends, and hearing what they think of Santa Barbara County's amazing region. Lastly, I am genuinely very excited to share, listen, and help anyone I can.

If you haven't signed up for WBC14, why? This isn't the one to miss! Get your glass and pen, ready my friends!  

If you want to see a mini collection of things I do as it relates to Santa Barbara and wine - 

Radio: 

KVTA 1590 AM - Tom and Sandy 805 

(previous shows available on podcast)

Wine Stuff: 

Chardonnay's Identity Crisis

Kurt Russell Wine Pours In History 

Viognier 

Cimarone - Discover the Undiscovered

Video:

The Chardonnay Symposium

Presqu'ile

Biodynamic Vineyard Practices

Santa Barbara County Wines Promotional Video - coming soon

World of Pinot Noir - coming soon

Photography: More to come on future posts for santabarbaracountywine.com