Wining in the Santa Ynez Valley...

The Goddess and JD received an invitation from the Santa Ynez Valley Wine Club to attend the Harvest of Love - A Winemaker Affair on September 28th at the Santa Ynez Inn in the tiny hamlet of Santa Ynez. This intimate event featured 6 small wineries: Roark Wine Company, Solminer Wine, Turiya Wines, LaMontagne Winery, Kaena Wines and Shai Cellars in a lovely shady green setting on a perfect California autumn day.

I've mentioned before that I rarely go to big wine events because it's too hard to talk to the people making/selling their wines. At a small event like this one, JD and I were able to meet the wine makers in person (some of whom we already knew) and find out what drives their passion for winemaking.

Wining by Proxy...Taste of the Nation Santa Barbara...

Shawn & JD prepping

Well, not exactly by proxy. The Goddess of Wine was at Taste of the Nation Santa Barbara, but working for Shai Cellars! First Acolyte, JD, describes the day:

This event took place at the Montecito Country Club, a beautiful location just south of Santa Barbara. The venue itself was located on a grassy meadow as well kept as a putting green with an amazing view of the coast all the way up to the cliffs north of the Santa Barbara harbor.

It being primarily a food event with wine, there were a lot of food tables though with plenty of wine tables interspersed. A great opportunity for pairings. This event has been going on for several years and seemed quite well organized. We were able to park very close to the entrance of the venue to unload. Volunteers unloaded the vehicles and carried the wares up the steps and thence to the tables. These two points are very important when you are dealing with heavy and bulky items like cases of wine and masses of food. Nicely done, thank you.

Wining by proxy...kind of...Shai Cellars wine dinner at Fab's Corner Cucina...

The Goddess was ready to write her recap of a truly delicious evening, when First Acolyte, JD, sent her his write-up. What a good Acolyte he is! Here are his thoughts:

Shai Cellars

There was a wonderful winemaker dinner at Fabs Corner Cucina on March 21, 2012. This delectable event, hosted by Amelia Yokel, paired the Shai Cellars wines of Shawn Shai Halahmy with the food creations of Chef Ian Jerde.

OMG. Now that I have that out of the way I’ll move on, starting with a little background.

Fabs is a relaxed and friendly family owned restaurant in Sherman Oaks, California serving mainly Italian-based fare. One can get marinara-sauced or other lighter-sauced dishes along with other things such as Risotto del Giorno. More on the risotto later. There are always specials available which often distract one from trying items on the regular menu: the entrees, the soups, the salads, the appetizers. There are so many delicious choices and don’t forget the yeasty rolls.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Tasting Room...

I was feeling like we've been going non-stop. Then I took a look at my calendar and realized there was a reason for that: We've been going non-stop! Geez, no wonder we're tired!


7/20 - Kickoff lunch for Break the Cycle - Cooking for Love - How do I convince small production, artisan winemakers to donate wine for me to pour at this event? Suggestions? Better yet: Donations? Anyone? Anyone?

www.cookingforlove.org

Wining all around town...

Can't believe we're at the end of February already. How did that happen? And there have been so many wine events already, and so many more coming up. It's hard to choose when there are so many opportunities to meet like-minded folks and taste great wines. So far this year, there have been a couple of Grape of the Nights at Valencia Wine Company, the 1st Annual SCV WineFest (pictured right), several LearnAboutWine events, not to mention my own series of Introduction to Wine With the Goddess classes.

Serendipity while wining...

Serendipity is a propensity for making fortunate discoveries while looking for something unrelated.

I am often amused at how often serendipity takes me to unexpected places. Like yesterday. After a fairly quiet week, during which JD and I were actually able to stay home, catch up on some DVRed shows and drink our own wine (after an unusually busy summer of wining), we found ourselves with no wine plans for the weekend. It made me nervous and restless.

Wining and dining all over the place with friends...

So much going on!  So little time to write!  And so many folks out there who are telling everyone what they should drink and what they should think.  But not me.  I'm just telling you about my life...

First - there was the day of tasting in Malibu with Marya, Shawn, Debra, Xochitl, and Barry at the Cornell Winery, one of our favorite places to hang and taste wines from the Malibu AVA.  The highlight of the day for me was my friend Shawn's own wine, a deep, dark Syrah under the Shai label. He's been pouring at some small events, and for friends (thankfully!). He'll be releasing it soon. Watch for it!