Wine tasting at HASR: L to R, Walt Gample, Terry Kakazu, Guy Banal

Terry Kakazu runs an email list you want to be on: the one where she invites her loyal fans to come over for HASR's Tuesday or Friday wine tastings. We waited until the crowds had left to snap this shot of Walt Gample, who poured that evening, Terry Kakazu, owner with her husband, Mike, of the HASR Wine Company (HASR=Highly Allocated Spoiled Rotten, named after the wine club), and Guy Banal, who was owner and chef at Bon Appetit in Discovery Bay, a fine restaurant we visited frequently when we moved to Hawaii.

Terry closed out 2005 with a "Battle of Champagnes" featuring four pouring stations and a crowd spilling outside the doors. We arrived after the corks had popped and had to use our New York subway skills to elbow our way to the glasses.

Tonight (January 3) HASR has a tasting featuring Peter Spann Vineyards, including a Sangiovese exclusive to HASR and only 280 cases made. These really are exclusive--I'm looking at a yellow plastic cork marked "Spann Vineyards/Drink Mo-betta Wine!" Although the cork may be modern (and I found it hard to get out of the bottle), the wine production is said to be traditional: Spann Vineyards says that they still stomp on the grapes with feet. That's right, they crush grapes with human feet. These days, being traditional is actually quite radical.

Ok, you want to know about these wine tastings, don't you? To get on the list, email Terry and ask to have your email address added. That's hasr@verizon.net.

HASR Wine Company
31 N. Pauahi St.
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 535-9463