SIP AND SAVOUR AT 11TH ANNUAL TOAST TO THE COAST EVENT

Fundraiser benefits conservation programs of Ocean Wise and Vancouver Aquarium

Toast to the Coast, the 11thannual fundraiser that supports Ocean Wise and Vancouver Aquarium conservation programs, runs Oct. 20.

The sip-and-savour gala is held among the Aquarium’s many galleries and more than 50,000 aquatic creatures including Steller’s Bay, a west coast fishing village, the Aquarium’s six gregarious sea otters, and the southern stingrays in the Discover Rays exhibit that ends in January.

Full details and tickets for the unique evening can be found at vanaqua.org.

On Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. Hester

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Creek Estate Winery and chef Rod Butters invite you to launch his first cookbook, The Okanagan Table: The Art of Everyday Home Cooking.

Butters is the chef/owner of RauDZ Regional Table, micro bar bites and Terrafina at Hester Creek by RauDZ. His cookbook reflects his passion for food and the Okanagan’s horn of plenty. Butters will share some of his favourite recipes in this multicourse dinner paired with Hester Creek wines.

Tickets are $150 per person plus tax and gratuity, including a shuttle from within Oliver and Osoyoos.

Call the winery for tickets at 250-498-4435, ext. 228. The 2014 Cabernet Franc is all Cerqueira Vineyard located on the Black Sage Gravel Bar. The soils are dense loam topsoil above gravel with limestone (calcium carbonate)-covered granite, quartz, and basalt cobbles throughout a deep profile. It was fermented with wild yeast and finished unfined and unfiltered.

It was a warm year and the red and black is jammy, albeit with a savoury, south Okanagan film. This one needs a bit of time in bottle or try now with roast pork or lamb.

WINE FOR THE CELLAR

Penfolds Cabernet Shiraz Bin 389 Cabernet Sauvignon — Shiraz 2014, South Australia $94.99 | 93/100

UPC: 012354071209

Bin 389 is always a multi-district blend of Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz. The 2014 opens with fresh blueberry aromas off the top. The textures are almost relentless across its silky, smooth, long, satiny sheen. The attack is fresh with stony, mineral and black olive highlights, with cherries, chocolate, licorice, resin and tobacco behind. This red spends 12 months in American oak hogsheads (53 per cent new). Tasty stuff and one of the best since 2010, if not better. There is plenty of stuffing here to wait through 2024.