Industry Interviews

Angela Aiello was one of the first people to support my wine writing passion. When others looked at this newbie, who was far from a sommelier and learning about wine through trial and oh-so-much error, there wasn’t a ton of support. Angela, though, welcomed me with open arms, and I spent many a night in the iYellow Wine Cave tasting, talking and learning. She introduced me to winemakers, invited me to lunch with the Mandela family and generally invested her time and energy into making me feel like an accepted part of the Canadian wine writing family. I hope all young wine writers find someone like her to champion them as they start out in their careers.

Now embarking on her own career change, I wanted to share some of the exciting things Angela has on the horizon now that the Wine Cave has closed and her wine life has taken her in new and exciting directions.

There have been lots of changes to iYellow in the last year – can you catch us up and tell us about the exciting changes in your life?

Wow, what a year it has been! In the last year, I spent a month in South Africa learning how to make wine, merged with a media company to help elevate my career and spent two weeks in New Zealand learning all about the various regions of New Zealand. It’s been a pretty crazy year. After 12 years of forming iYellow Wine Club and 5 years of hosting classes and events in the Wine Cave, we had to close the Wine Cave. It was such a sad time because many of us put so much time and effort into the space. Rent became so expensive in Toronto and the costs of running a business can be quite high. So I decided to pivot what we are doing and am currently re-developing a strategy to stay fresh, and keep things exciting. I think that by the spring we will have a new set of ideas into how to bring our community to life. So stay tuned!

Wine travel is still a big part of what you do – what are some of your favourite recent trips?

My most favourite recent trip was to New Zealand this past February where I was able to taste close to 1,000 wines and visited the regions of Hawke’s Bay, Gisbourne, Malborough, Martinborough, Central Otago. New Zealand is a magical and wonderous country that makes really amazing wines.

What inspires you to continue to work in wine?

You know, that is a great question. I know that wine is really the most wonderful industry of all! And all of us that work in it work really hard, but we put in our passion and creativity into all that we do. I really don’t know if there is anything else I could see myself doing! To be inspired I often travel to wide open spaces and find a way to get close to nature so I can live in the big city. When so much of your brand, is you as a person, you need to find the time to get away and re-balance to be the best at your job and for the people around you.

You have been a big proponent for women supporting women in wine and in business – why is this important to you?

Honestly, I could go into a little feminist rant here, but it’s not about that at all. It’s about people supporting people and women need to support each other more in general. I mean, the wine world needs more alternative voices and stories and it truly needs to be democratized. By that I mean wine needs to be made and marketed to the people who are drinking it and more of the industry needs to listen to people who are living and breathing wine culture every day. I also think that more women just need to support more women especially in an industry that is male dominant. I think overall the working world needs to change its cultural norm. 9-5 is practically dead. We all work from home, from our phones and check emails late at night. In many industries what we work on involves much more of our life than a clock-in clock-out type of environment and management styles. I think more organizational and management philosophy needs to change around work culture, building flexible work environments and actually understanding what people’s talents are and fostering them, rather than trying to fit people into a square job spec.

People always ask me what my “go-to” wine is, and I’m sure they ask you too! What do you tell them? 

My answer to this question is simple. It is always Riesling. I have it tattooed on my arm and it’s always the same. Personally, I find the best bottles of Riesling can be found in either Ontario or Germany and the best thing is they don’t cost a lot to be tasty.

What are you most excited about for 2019 and beyond?

At the moment I feel like I am carving a new path for myself and that is what is truly exciting. Mostly I’m looking forward to the next phase of my book, I’ve almost finished writing it, but am in the process of trying to find a publisher and make my next move.

A huge thanks to Angela for sharing her story. You can find out more about her and her ongoing work in wine at AngelaAiello.ca.

You can also find her on all the social media outlets as @superwinegirl, where she’s “Saving the world, one glass at a time.”

Several years ago, I was seated next to Adam Waxman at a dinner for food writers and bloggers. We had a lovely chat and I was charmed by the affable and intelligent Waxman, who shared some of his recent travel adventures. The son of Canadian icons Al and Sara Waxman, Adam has joined his mother in the family business – becoming a successful food and travel writer in his role as Associate Publisher and Executive Editor at DINE and Destinations Magazine.

If you are not familiar with DINE, you should be. It’s an oversize, glossy magazine full of terrific wine, food and travel suggestions. Sara Waxman, a legendary food and travel writer, is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief and she and Adam oversee a talented roster of writers and photographers. I look forward to their yearly launch party, which always features the kind of exceptional wine, cocktails and food that the magazine celebrates. Creating a luxury print publication in the days of online everything is a bold decision and I was excited to talk to Adam about his work, his travel and his dedication to DINE.

Wine and food is your family business – what inspired you to follow in your mom’s footsteps and become a food writer?

I’m blessed to have had two incredible role models as parents. I not only love them, but also always knew they were both really cool people. I would have followed either one of them no matter what they did. I grew up with an appreciation of food and culture from my mother, and had been freelance writing about food and travel for years. My first published story was about being attacked in a taxicab in Ho Chi Min City. Food and wine seemed to be a safer bet. When my mother started DINE, she was running it by herself. I was an out of work actor. I missed my Dad, and the opportunity to help out and work along side my Mom was a wonderful gift. I jumped at it, and strove to earn it. We trust each other.

What is the biggest lesson you have learned from running DINE and Destinations?

Gratitude. Everyone is trying. Everywhere I go I meet people who work so hard. Some are able to translate their passion and their talent into a life. It’s deeply humbling. The opportunities that I’ve had to experience that, and to share that, have kept me afloat. I’m grateful.

You have had the opportunity to travel around the world in your role – what was your most memorable wine-related experience?

It was a January in Salta, Argentina. Every star was out that night, every constellation. Brilliant, sparkling stardust swept across the sky to infinity. The air was crisp and I was naked. In one hand I held a flute of sparkling Torrontes. It had the most elegant tropical bouquet—like Fruit Loops, but probably more sophisticated. In the other hand an empanada. My host prepared a jacuzzi bath of Cabernet Sauvignon, and I sunk into that like a Roman emperor.

Do you have a go-to wine or spirit that you recommend to others?

A few years ago I discovered Marquis de Riscal, from Spain. Its plum-y richness is something I could curl up with on the couch. Later my mother shared with me that it was my Dad’s favourite wine. When I taste it now I imagine how much he would have enjoyed it.

What do you look for in a wine or food experience to share with DINE readers? What sets something apart?

A personal connection. The passion and imagination that goes into it, and the sensations evoked from it that you just can’t post to Instagram.

DINE continues to be a big, beautiful glossy publication in an age where everything seems to be digital – what inspires you to do that?

My Mom started DINE. Like her it has to be qualified and fabulous. That’s what our readership expects and that’s how we like it. In addition to that, the excitement I had as a boy, daydreaming to a Bowie record or getting lost in a Kerouac novel—that’s something I want to share with my son, and maintain for as long as we can. Online all those tactile, visceral experiences, their meanings, are digitally re-contextualized; engagement becomes passive and uncritical. In print we can also celebrate language, which, online, seems to be governed by SEO.

Where can people find DINE and Destinations?

Currently the magazine is available in Air Canada lounges, as well as Air France, KLM, Air Transat, VIA, major hotel suites across Toronto, Ontario Travel Information Centres at the borders with Quebec, New York and Michigan, newspaper home delivery to select postal codes, and in our archive section on our website, dinemagazine.com.

A huge thanks to Adam for taking the time to talk to me for this article. I hope you’ll check out DINE and catch up on some of his other wine-infused adventures.