Niagara Life Magazine
November/December, 2005
Paul Bosc By Diana Oddi
Photography by Stephen Dominick
 Wine.
In the words of Paul-Michel Bosc defining wine may seem very simple, but is in fact rather complicated. He says wine is a beverage you enjoy with friends, a beverage that complements the best meal you've ever had, and it's a beverage that makes you happy. It's also a beverage that's helped to define Paul-Michel himself - a pioneer in Canadian winemaking who helped put the Niagara region at the industry's forefront - and put him on the road to earning one of Canada's highest honours.
"You don't drink wine to get inebriated," says Bosc, who will be inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada this winter. "It's just to have a good life. Most of the doctors would recommend a glass of wine. Some are very beneficial to the heart. As a French man I believe in it. There are some people that may not believe in it, but too bad for them." Sharing a laugh, the 70-year-old's eyes light up and his passion for the ancient drink shines through. It's that passion which led him across the Atlantic to help lead a vintner's revolution in Niagara. "I came with a suitcase, a wife, a kid and $3,000 in my pocket."
After studying winemaking at the University of Burgundy, France, he had managed a co-operative in Algeria, until civil war escalated. "Eventually the French got kicked out of there, so we left and we went back to France, but things were not very good there, either. I had a relative in Quebec. We contacted him, we took the boat and we came."
He made his way to Niagara, a region in many ways reminiscent of the grape-growing country he knew. "I worked in Quebec at the liquor board as a quality controller and I knew a company down here in Niagara, Chateau Gai Wines, was having some trouble.
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| Paul Bosc arrived from Quebec to rescue Chateau Gai. 15 years later, he planted 60 acres of Niagara's first commecrial vinifera. He continues to be a mentor to many. | I felt our country deserved better than what they had at the time." He was hired
on the spot. He stayed 15 years, starting as production supervisor, then winemaker, head of the lab and eventually director of research and development. Despite the doubts of his contemporaries, Bosc set to work finding vines which would thrive in the Niagara soil. He advocated using the European vitis vinifera varieties, which he believed better for winemaking. Neighbour growers believed he was wasting his time. "We grew beautiful fruit here… apple, peach, cherry, pear and so on, but the grapes, which were my specialty, were in my opinion, the pits for wine making. So I started working on seeing if the European varieties, which were meant to be used in winemaking, could be adapted here. And of course at the time we were told, oh no, you can't grow those things here, and so on. After a while of hearing this I thought this was nonsense." And that's where Château des Charmes, the Bosc family winery, started to take root.
"In 1976 I started to go on my own. We purchased a property and in two years we planted 60 acres of our grapes and that became the first commercial vinifera vineyard." But it still took years to convince Bosc's doubters. "Every year people were watching, asking, so are they still alive?'" he laughs. "They always have doubts. Just like when we put the wind machines up for winter protection and to protect from early frost in spring. Same damn thing. People said that guy is crazy." But "crazy" started to pay off, and one by one area vintners started buying into this new way of thinking. Paul-Michel's sons, Paul-André and Pierre-Jean, grew up watching winemaking change in the region.
"A wave of people came along in the 80s and 90s and said, hey, geez, Bosc has been in business now 10,15 years," remembers Paul-André. "They said, he's hung on, and if he can do it maybe we could do it, too." For Paul-Michel, it was simply a matter of applying his training. "Everyone thought I was taking a risk," he says. Maybe for them it was a risk, but for me it was a calculated. I studied very carefully."
Len Pennachetti, founder of Cave Spring Cellars, met Paul-Michel when he entered the industry nearly 30 years ago. "Paul was a mentor for me," Pennachetti says. "He brought old-world knowledge none of us knew. He had the knowledge and he was very good at sharing that knowledge." Pennachetti, whose days as a vintner were still ahead of him, also tried tackling the vinifera grape. He often turned to Paul-Michel for advice. "I very much admire him and consider him to be one of the very few pioneers in Ontario for making the wine industry what it is today," Pennachetti says. "Winemakers tend to want to make winemaking as easy as it can be. But Paul was always able to resist the impulse. He was always pushing the bar higher for quality standards."
Today Château des Charmes in St. David's is a thriving estate winery - a 40-hectare vineyard surrounding a 35,000-square-foot stone château which serves as the facility's base of operations and is a symbol of its success and of the region's coming of age. Niagara's industry now employs thousands, and helps millions of dollars find their way to the region each year. "I describe my dad as the Henry Ford of the modern Canadian Wine Industry," says Paul-André. "Henry Ford did not invent the automobile. But what he did was introduce a number of innovations, such as the assembly line, that made the auto industry popular and accelerated the popularity of cars by maybe 20 or 30 years. It would have happened, but it would have taken much, much longer. In a way that is my father's story. My dad did not invent wine. Winemaking is the world's oldest profession.
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There are always chores on the farm - Bosc gets up and goes to work everyday.
| What he did was accelerated the development of this industry by a generation." The office of the Governor-General agrees with that sentiment, following its Ontario counterpart's 1999 example and naming Paul-Michel to the country's highest order. "I'm very proud," he says. "Very happy. I mean who wouldn't be?" He said he's not sure exactly when the ceremony will be -- he's been told possibly November or February -- but he's looking forward to it. "Yeah, we may as well, to have the big thing around your neck," he laughs. "I look forward to the big party up there".
Long time friend Ezio Di Emanuele, regional director of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada said he couldn't think of a more deserving recipient. "I have known Mr. Bosc and his family for over 20 years and have witnessed first hand their endless and tireless drive for wine excellence. This honour, in large part, recognizes the Canadian Dream of a person who, as an immigrant to our country, set goals and standards that have and continue to be achieved at the highest levels. His pioneering efforts and leadership in the grape and wine sector have made a tremendous contribution to the growth and reputation of the industry both at home and internationally. I am very proud of his achievements and this honour he so very much deserves," Di Emanuele said.
 Bosc has also been tapped for the Queen's Jubliee Medal and the Tony Aspler Lifetime achievement award, voted by his fellow winemakers, and he's not about to start resting on laurels now. That dedication, shown in the vintner's youthful eyes, the same drive that carried him across three continents and to a premier position among Canada's winemakers, shows no signs of waning. "Sounds good," he laughs. "But that doesn't stop me from getting up every day and going to work all day."
He and wife Andrée have passed the same work ethic and the knowledge that helped put Niagara on the map on to their own family. "There was a method to his madness," Paul-André says. "My dad is extremely precise, an individual who likes to get things perfect. He worked very hard, night and day, to get where he is now. If I had to distill it down, if the question is, what's the story of Paul Bosc? It's a story of a Canadian, who brought new ideas based on old values. That's it. That's his story. And is there a more Canadian story than that?"
The Order of Canada is the centrepiece of Canada's Honours System and recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. The Order recognizes people in all sectors of Canadian society. Their contributions are varied, yet they have all enriched the lives of others and made a difference to this country. The Order of Canada's motto is DESIDERANTES MELIOREM PATRIAM (They desire a better country). Levels of The Order include Companion (C.C.), Officer (O.C.) and Member (C.M.).
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