YEARS ago I passed a vineyard way up north.  I was on my way to Ahipara at the south end of Ninety Mile Beach.  I wish I’d been able to convince my driver to stop – We’d zoomed right past Okahu Estate.  This week I had a chance to make amends when I stumbled across a tasting at Wineseeker on Victoria Street.  
We tried the Okahu Syrah 2007 ($36.50).  A medium-bodied, berries and black jelly bean-flavoured wine, it served as a great appetite whetter.  We swirled, sniffed and sipped, giving the wine time to release its secrets.
Meanwhile we were regaled with tales of how estate owner Monty Knight dealt with too much moisture in the soil.  He dynamited the top layer off to get down to the mineral rich sandstone beneath.  He was not a big hit with his neighbours, but certainly got to the bottom of things.
Next up was the interest piece: Okahu Chambourcin 2005 ($36.50) red licorice bright fruitiness with a darkness lurking beneath.  Chambourcin is a French-American interspecific hybrid grape, which just means that both countries claim it as their own.  In some places, it is grown mainly as a table grape, but others value the fermented juice.  In fact, if you really concentrate, you can taste a touch of the musky table grape in the wine.
We headed back to work after sampling dessert: Okahu Old Brother John’s Tawny Port ($27).  Truly medicinal, tasting companions commented on how its malt toffee deliciousness cleared their sinuses and lightened their mood
Wine of the week: Wild Rock Merlot/Malbec Hawkes Bay 2007 ($17 at Pack’n’save) is like a day at Nana and Grandad’s, all old chocolate and tea, plums and tobacco.  A real winter warmer.