where jess ate

Wine and oysters – they make for a perfect evening, don’t they? I recently attended an iYellow Wine Club (@iyellowwineclub) event which was centred around my two favourite things! We spent the evening learning the basics of shucking while enjoying some Stoneleigh wine at the iYellow Wine Cave.

Are you a wine lover? If you haven’t heard of iYellow Wine Club, you’ve been missing out! It’s a Toronto-based social wine club which organizes events, tours and classes. The iYellow Wine community has over 10,000 members (impressive, eh?) which makes it an amazing way to meet other wine lovers.

Did I mention that joining is free? As a member, you’ll have access to all of their great offerings like the recent event I attended. I previously attended an iYellow wine class (see the post here) and also had a really great time – wine classes definitely don’t need to be pretentious.

This Stoneleigh oyster event took place in the cozy iYellow Wine Cave. I loved that it was a small event space which made it a very warm, welcoming and intimate event.

While I love oysters, I have to admit that I’ve never actually shucked an oyster. When it was my turn, I was a little nervous but it turned out I didn’t have to be – our instructor guided me through the process and patiently waited as I stumbled around trying to find the opening. It took a while (I’m not entering any oyster-shucking contests anytime soon) but it was a success! Don’t oysters taste so much better when you’ve shucked them yourself?

To pair with our oysters, we were offered a selection of Stoneleigh wines: Stoneleigh Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, Stoneleigh Marlborough Pinot Noir, Stoneleigh Latitude Sauvignon Blanc and Stoneleigh Latitude Pinot Noir.  My personal favourite was the crisp Stoneleigh Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc which complemented our oysters wonderfully.

The Stoneleigh vineyard is located in New Zealand and was named after the stones which cover their vineyard. According to their website, “the stones store and reflect the sun’s heat up into the vines, enhancing the ripening process and contributing to the unique taste of Stoneleigh wines.”

In addition to meeting other wine lovers, I love trying new wines that I otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to try. After going to these events, you’ll always leave with another wine or two that you can add to your LCBO shopping list.

Sound like something right up your alley? Sign up for an iYellow Wine Club membership now at iyellowwineclub.com to take advantage of their fantastic events!