Sometimes it takes an act of God to change the direction you're headed in.
In 1988, Cyclone Bola was the catalyst for Anne and Harry Frost to begin making blueberry wine.
After Bola's gusts dumped the Frost's export order of blueberries on the ground, they turned to a 10-litre paint bucket, a potato masher and a library book to guide them to the saving grace of the season.
Their inspiration came from a desire to use good quality but weather-damaged fruit to produce a high-end product and supplement the berries they supplied to wholesalers. Ten or so years later, they became an official winery, the first in the Rotorua district. They relied on local support when it came to testing and developing the product.
Anne recalls their early days of trialling the wine every hour on the hour for days in a row trying to get the right balance.
