A few of iYellow Wine School’s Angela Aiello’s favourite things (ie. Riesling)

Angela Aiello, founder of the Toronto-based iYellow Wine School inadvertently practices what she preaches. Throughout the year, Aiello can be found standing with a wine glass in hand leading a class on how to to appreciate a fine sparkling wine (among other varieties). The fizzy wine is bubbly, refreshing and focused, she might say. But so too is the teacher. It all started in 1998 when Aiello popped open a bottle of Vineland Estates riesling after work at the winery. “I just turned 18,” Aiello told OurFaves. “I brought it home from the winery and I had to push the cork into the bottle. I definitely remember that memory a lot.”

What was meant to be a summer job slowly turned into a career. In 2006, Aiello inaugurated iYellow Wine School. Since then, more than 6,000 people have sipped and sniffed reds, whites and sparklings with Aiello. Recently, OurFaves hitched a ride with Aiello as she toured a bus load of iYellow Wine Clubbers around Niagara-on-the-Lake. There was wine, there was cheese and there was a singing bus driver.

After the tour (and a new appreciation for all things riesling), we sat Aiello down and made her tell us about a few of her favourite wine things…

OurFaves’ wine tasting: uncorked

We sniffed, swished, sampled, and sipped, but now it’s time to dish. Our expedition to Café Taste led us to new experiences and new friends — like veteran wine tasters Julye, Jeanine, Jordan, and David — while the rest of the night was filled with soft, candlelit discussions both intimate and intense. You know, what usually happens when stirring subjects like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and Bill Maher are invoked.

Café Taste’s owner Jeremy Day taught us how to perfect our technique and taste like a pro, such as noticing the difference in flavour before and after pairing cheese with our wines, giving us all more reason to keep drinking. Ever the multitasker, Jeremy was quick to answer our questions and surprised us with green-friendly facts about our locally-produced cheeses, among other tidbits of interesting info. (Go ahead and ask him why he prefers to give customers “recyclable” cups for coffees on-the-go over reusable mugs.)

One of the highlights of the evening was discovering the café’s hidden backyard patio, which was designed and built from reclaimed materials by Jeremy and his brothers. And thanks to him, you can also find a list of our palatable pairings below. But don’t bother looking for these in the LCBO, Jeremy’s menu provided a savoury selection available only at Ontario wineries:

• Malivoire Vineyard (Beamsville Bench) 2007 Chardonnay Musque paired with St. Andre cheese
• Trumpour’s Mill Estate (Prince Edward County) bottled 2006 Chardonnay paired with Nettle Gone Wild cheese
• Fielding Estate (Beamsville Bench) 2007 Pinot Noir paired with Champfleury cheese
• Sandbanks Estate (Prince Edward County) 2006 Baco Noir paired with Blu benedictine cheese

So this makes our second monthly event for OurFaves, and now we can finally watch the movie Sideways and laugh understand all those jokes about Merlot and Pinot noir. Mission Accomplished.

What do you want to do for our next OurFaves event?

Welcome to Flavour Country.

A name destined for National Geographic: Nettle Gone Wild.

Jeremy Day works the wine horn.

Candice (left) and Robin (right) share a toast.

Frances (left) and Wendy (right) raise their glasses to more wine.

Conoisseurs Julye (left), David (center), and Jeanine (right) share a laugh and some notes over reds and whites.