iYellow Wine Club Harvest Wine Escapes
Monday, November 11, 2013
On Saturday, I had the di-vine pleasure of participating in my first official wine tour courtesy of Toronto's own iYellow Wine Club. With my sister-in-law as my plus one, we met up with a wonderful group of wine enthusiasts and boarded a luxurious bus and were soon bound for Niagara-on-the-Lake. Our first stop was Diamond Estates for a cellar floor experience.
There we enjoyed a sample of their wines such as their Moscato, learned how carbon dioxide is emitted from the production of a single bottle of wine and how Dan Akroyd invested $1 million CDN in Diamond Estates back in 2006. Why do I feel like patting him on the back?
Later we headed into the Diamond Estates Wine Boutique for additional wine tastings and shopping before making our way to Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate.
We were greeted by sommelier and self-proclaimed 'cork dork' Graham who began our wine tasting with a little bubbly. He was very knowledgeable and provided in-depth descriptions of the process of harvesting grapes and wine-making, although his specialty lies in the consumption of wine as well as food pairings.
Once inside, we headed down into the wine cellar for an exclusive Bachelor-esque dining experience surrounded by walls of wine barrels. Our salad was dressed with an ice wine vinaigrette and the beef stew was prepared with a red wine. Both were delicious and paired with... yes, more red wine!
After our apple crumble dessert topped with delectable crème fraiche, we headed to SouthBrook Vineyards which I had first visited during the summer with Farmers Feed Cities. I was really excited to be back at this organic and biodynamic winery and ended up purchasing a bottle of 2009 Whimsy 'Renewed Vows' Cabernet Franc and a 2012 Triomphe Cabernet Franc Rosé.
We ended our iYellow Wine Club tour at a fourth surprise location - Vineland Estates, the very place where iYellow's own Angela Aiello developed a passion for all things wine while working in their restaurant for a number of years.
Upon arriving at Vineland, everyone noticed how beautiful the grounds were, even though it was very dark that evening. This is definitely a place to visit during the day to fully appreciate its beauty. We were still happy to be able to enjoy an after-hours tasting led by Angela herself and explore their beautiful two-level shop. Between my sister-in-law and I, we purchased a couple of jars of kalamata olive and fig tapenade, chocolates, cheese and crackers. The perfect snacks for our drive home!
On the whole, I was thoroughly impressed with the attention to detail, the organization and the great enthusiasm with which the tour was executed by Angela and her crew. With plenty of on-board snacks and water, prizes and wine-related trivia , the time we spent on the road seemed to fly by. For my first time on an official wine tour, I was pleasantly surprised and would highly recommend an iYellow wine tour to family and friends.
For more photos, have a peek at my iYellow Wine Tour slideshow:
iYellow Wine Club tours range in price from $125 to $165 per person. Their Holiday Wine Jam is $60 and is a great opportunity to try 70 different wines from the world over. It will take place on November 28 from 7-10:30 pm in Toronto followed by an open bar after party. For an updated schedule of iYellow events, check out iyellowwineclub.com.
Disclosure: I received complimentary wine tour tickets to facilitate this review. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own.
16 COMMENTS
Wow! Now, that is something I'd soo love to do one day. Not that I know a dang thing about wine, or tasting it, other then if it's real good keep pouring .. lol, but still it is something I would like to experience at least 1ce in my life.
ReplyDeleteWine tours might be my new favourite thing. So glad you had fun!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a fun experience! :) I really LOVE seeing how things are made.. Very cool :)
ReplyDeleteOh wow, that seemed like a lot of fun. My sister-in-law loves wine.. maybe I should take her on a wine tour! she would love it i think
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun time! I am no a fan of wine so not sure how much I would enjoy it but I now friends that would so will tell them about this. (Judy Cowan)
ReplyDeleteMy husband can be a wine snob. I have never actually gone on a tour and tasting. I think it is about time.
ReplyDeleteI'm on their emailing but have never checked out any of their events ... I think I should :)
ReplyDeleteReading this post has reinforced my feeling that I need to go on another Niagara wine tour really soon!!! :D
ReplyDeleteThat place looks straight out of a magazine! This would make such a great day trip.
ReplyDeleteCork Dork! Now that's a good one! Winery tours are always so interesting and beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThis was my first official tour. Pretty sure it won't be my last!
DeleteDidn't know there was such a thing but definitely on my bucket list now!
ReplyDeleteI love Niagara on the Lake wine tours!!! This looked like a fun day.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of going on a wine tasting tour.
ReplyDeleteWe used to take wine tours around B.C. Canada...it was some really beautiful trips
ReplyDeleteI live in Southern Niagara area of Ontario and we have a lot of wineries of which Vineland is a part of and they do tours etc. and this winery is really nice and I really love the old looking building
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to leave a comment here on Toronto Teacher Mom. Hope you have a great day!