Harshal Shah (Sommelier/Wine Consultant)
Harshal Shah (born May 28, 1982) is an Australian/Indian sommelier, wine consultant, educator, wine judge and part-time wine and travel writer. He is regarded as an expert in matching Indian cuisine and wine..
As of 2010, he lives in New Delhi, India, where he moved in 2007.
Early life and education
Born in Nairobi, Kenya and then moving to Zimbabwe in 1982, Harshal spent the first 16 years of his life in the city of Bulawayo. He attended St. Patrick's Christian Brothers College, Bulawayo and completed his Cambridge O-levels there. In 1998, Harshal moved to Sydney, Australia, completed high school and attended The University of Sydney. Here he completed a double degree in Science and Commerce, majoring in Information Systems and Commercial Law..
During his time at university, Harshal discovered a fondness for wine. He travelled to France in December 2000 and upon his return, enrolled in a Viticulture course through the University's agricultural college, at Orange, New South Wales. Concurrently, Harshal enrolled in formal wine qualifications through the Northern Sydney Institute of TAFE. This course lasted 18 months, and along with his Viticulture study, provided him with a springboard to begin work as a sommelier.
Career
In August 2001, Harshal joined Abhi's Indian Restaurant in the Sydney suburb of North Strathfield. Abhi's is owned by award-winning Indian chef Kumar Mahadevan. At Abhi's Harshal was responsible for developing a wine programme in an environment where the restaurant's patrons were used to bringing their own wine to the restaurant. Harshal also joined the Australian Sommeliers' Association (NSW) and was later elected to the Executive Committee of the Association in 2003.
In November 2003, Kumar Mahadevan opened his second restaurant, Aki's, in the up-market part of Sydney known as the Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf. The cuisine was largely authentic Indian, but with modern Australian 'twists.' Harshal moved to Aki's and built an extensive wine list of Australian and imported wines, by far an innovative and most sophisticated wine concept for any Indian restaurant in Sydney, and arguably in Australia. In 2005, the wine lists of both Abhi's and Aki's - both of which at that point had been designed by Harshal - were awarded 1 'wine glass' in the Tucker Seabrook Wine List of the Year awards.
In 2007, Brindco Sales Limited, the largest importer and distributor of wines in India, hired Harshal as their Brand Manager for the international wine portfolio. Harshal moved to New Delhi, India in July 2007 and upon completing his contract with Brindco, began work as an independent wine consultant and educator. He is one of only a handful of educators in India certified to teach the UK-based Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) courses. He currently consults to a number of leading hotels and restaurants in India, including the Shangri-La, New Delhi, and the Hilton .
Harshal is a regular columnist and International Correspondent for Sommelier India, India's only specialist wine magazine. He is also convener of the Sommelier India Tasting Panel. Harshal has a wine column in The Telegraph, a broadsheet newspaper largely sold in Eastern India. He is also a part-time contributor to the India Today Group's daily tabloid, The Mail Today.
He has judged in international wine competitions alongside industry luminaries such as Vanya Cullen and Tony Jordan (from Australia,) Steven Spurrier (from the UK) and Jose Penin (Spain). He has been Chairman of the India International Wine Fair Industry Conference since 2009
He is known to work closely with the following wine distributors in India: Moet-Hennessey India, Sonarys Co-brands, Fine Wines n'More, Aspri, Amfora Wines and Sula Wines.