Malbec Tasting Party with iYellow Wine Club

Last year, I went to an iYellow Wine Club wine school class with one of my very favourite people ever – Carmen (pictured below) who had been to many previous events held by Angie Aiello and her team.

About 20 tables of people from all over the province (and a few from the US) nibbled on small offerings from the kitchen of the restaurant where the event was held. We tried a number of Pinots from Ontario, the tasting led by a young handsome sommelier. We nodded in agreement as we swirled, sipped and tasted pear, pepper and other earthy flavours brought to us by rich Niagara soil.

So when I heard about iYellow Wine Club & Wines of Argentina celebrating Malbec World Day, I was excited. After all, it was just a few years ago that I’d be in a restaurant ordering Malbec and my companions would sniff, saying there was no such thing. And now it had become mainstream and readily available, making it perfect for a lush like me.

Since I was familiar with the iYellow team from the previous event as well as their well-promoted do’s around town. I figured I was in for a pretty sedate evening.

Malbec World Day was held at Club V in Yorkville. The lineup down the street confirmed iYellow’s immense popularity. And it was further cemented as my gorgeous friend Alexandra (pictured below) and I descended down the stairs to a full-on crowd of hundreds. This was no mere tasting, this was a all-out celebration.

Throughout the low-ceilinged club, stations of over 20 wine purveyors were set up. On your way in was a place to pick up a glass, tasting notebook and pen.

It took longer than expected to get from station to station due to the crowds, but it was so worth the wait.

We tried 5, thinking that these were not 5 full glasses, but 5 glasses nonetheless. It was enough to relax us and put us in the occasional fit of giggles, but not in harm’s way by any means.

What an opportunity to try so many wines next to one another. It such a great way to not only determine their flavours, but what flavours speak to you. Alexandra and I agreed on all of our top choices:

- Domaine Jean Bousquet (organic)

- Kaiken

- Callia

And that all the wines available at the event are available at the LCBO made us very happy campers. We both planned on picking up a bottle or two the following day.

Another exciting element to the evening that I didn’t expect was all the people – from 20-somethings to 50-somethings, the range of folks was exhilarating. And while Alex and I are both with awesome fellas, we both came to the conclusion that this would be a superb environment to meet someone – friend, potential mate, etc. The crowd here is fascinating. And with all those wine-lovers in the house, you’d have at least that in common with them…

Great wines, great friends and great crowd – what more could you ask for?

Thanks for the invite, iYellow. I’ll be back.