Wining about Shai Cellars...

Shai surrounded by his wines

The Goddess of Wine and a friend were talking about Shawn Shai Halahmy the other day, and she asked, "Have you written an article about Shawn?" I thought for a moment, and then realized that even though I talk about and write about Shawn and his wonderful wines, it's mainly in the context of hanging out with friends, and no, I have not written an actual article about him. So here we are!

JD and I met Shawn through Ian Blackburn and LearnAboutWine. During the period when we were working with Ian and his team on a regular basis, we were present at many classes and events, and this inquisitive guy was there, asking lots of questions about making wine. We actually found him kind of annoying (!) because he was quite persistent and wanted specific answers to his questions. Things changed when we - kind of by accident - adopted him into our rapidly-expanding group of Wineaux during a wonderful event, the Union des Grand Crus de Bordeaux in January 2010. Suddenly, we couldn't get enough of him!

Rosé at the Tam...

Every month, wine maven, Brien McNally, at the Tam O'Shanter in Glendale, puts together fabulous wine and food pairings, and July 18th tasting was no exception. The Goddess of Wine, JD and their personal winemaker, Shawn Shai Halahmy, headed over to taste.

Nicoise & Bandol

2011 Domaine Dupuy de Lome Rosé, Bandol, Cote d'Azur, France. The nose was a bit hot, with overtones of dried roses and tropical flowers. There was the suggestion of sweetness in the nose, but the palate was dry as a bone! Mourvedre, Grenache and Cinsault were blended for a very elegant, medium-bodied wine with grapefruit and lemon on the front palate softening to stone fruits on the dry finish. Lovely. ABV 13.5%

Paired with Grilled Swordfish Nicoise Salad containing hard boiled egg, olives, rainbow fingerling potatoes, haricot verts (green beans), tomatoes, and arugula. Perfect!