Along with the thousands of grapevines winemaker Paul Bosc has nurtured, he is among the pioneers who planted the seeds that have flourished into today’s impressive Niagara wine region. Bosc, founder and president of Château des Charmes vineyard and winery in Niagara-on-the- Lake has his fingerprints all over the agritourism model that has hundreds of thousands of visitors touring the dozens of wineries in Niagara each year. It may seem it’s always been that way, but Niagara is a very young vintage compared to the long established wine regions of the world. And Bosc is one of its founding fathers. His contributions earned him the Order of Canada last year. Bosc is also one of the architects of the transformation of Niagara from an object of derision in the wine world to a world-class player.
Château des Charmes has won dozens of prestigious industry awards for its white and reds, sparkling wines and icewines. It was the first Canadian winery to win an award for table wine at France’s most prestigious wine exhibition, VinExpo in 1993 — an important step beyond international recognition solely for domestic icewine. Bosc founded his vineyard in 1978 with some cuttings of European varieties — vinifera — on 24 hectares. Others were dabbling in the varieties, but Bosc was the first to plant an entire vineyard. He believed the grapes being grown in Niagara at the time – native labrusca varieties such as concord and Niagara – were not the best for winemaking. Most agreed these grapes made good juice but terrible wine, but the quality vines from Italy and France seemed hardly suited to harsh Canadian winters. “I knew it could be wiped out,” Bosc recalls of his move in 1978. “Everyone said, ‘The man is mad. He’ll be wiped out in two years.’” But he sold 3,000 cases that first year and doubled it again in the second. More importantly, his background in viticulture meant he found ways to allow his vines to weather the cold. When he opened a 40,000- square-foot winery in 1994, he was selling 45,000 cases. Sales are now about 80,000 cases. That comes in the face of ever sharpening competition. In 1999, there were about 20 wineries in Niagara. In just seven years, that has grown to more than 100.
There were big players in the wine business in those early years — Jordan, Brights, Andres — and a few small operators struggling to get by. “The fact he started a winery with a 60-acre vineyard, that was weird,” said son and Château des Charmes vice-president Paul-André Bosc. “The model in this industry for the previous 100 years was that there was a clear division of labour between the grape growers – the farmer – and the processor. The two did not meet. But he came from a background where the two were not divorced.” Now, of the 7,284 hectares of vineyards in Niagara, one-third are owned by wineries. That land accounts for half of the entire value of the wine grape crop, says Paul-André. “Grapes have become the coin of the realm. It’s a good thing to own the land, they don’t make it anymore, and Niagara is a small place.” The beauty of owning the vineyards is in controlling the quality of the grapes (Paul likes to say wine is grown, not made), but also in being able to show visitors the entire process, from the budding of the fruit to the pouring of the wine in the tasting room. Between 125,000 and 150,000 people visit the Château estate yearly for tastings, tours, the boutique, concerts, weddings, corporate events and private functions. The winery also hosts hoteliers, restaurateurs, sommeliers and wine merchants from all over the world. “From the consumers’ perspective, this industry has its roots in authenticity,” said Michèle Bosc, Paul-André’s wife and director of communications for Chateau des Charmes. “They can meet the people who grew the grapes and bottled the wine and taste it in their facility. Consumers want to know how it’s made.”
Bosc was the first in Niagara to build a brand new, tourist oriented winery in 1994. Bosc read the signs perfectly. Though the original winery was a small, corrugated steel building now used as a warehouse, visitors jammed the place. Canadians were travelling to California, France and Italy to visit wineries and competitors in Niagara were sprucing up their facilities and expanding tasting rooms and boutiques. But no one was taking the big plunge, says Paul-André. Bosc decided the time was right to build a big, bold winery on land he bought from Brights in 1987. It was the perfect location to lure tourists: on a quiet rural road but close to the QEW and the attractions of Niagara-on-the- Lake. It was so perfect, the Bosc family built a castle. The stone and green copper-roofed winery is reminiscent of a Bordeaux estate, but is also based on the grand 19th-century railway hotels of Canada that so impressed Bosc such as the Chateaux Laurier and Frontenac. “It has one foot in the Old World and one foot in the New World, just like my dad,” says Paul-André, who joined the business after graduating from university. Few thought Bosc would make it. Brights, along with other big players, was looking to dump vineyards.
Free trade was looming and most predicted a dire end to Ontario’s fledgling wine industry. Bosc didn’t see it that way and was told he had “jelly in his head” when he paid $4,500 an acre for the land and proceeded to build a $6-million winery with the help of an Ontario loan. Tourism is a tough game, especially these days. But Paul-André says the growth potential is huge in Niagara, especially since many Ontarians have yet to discover it. “If we can convince more people in the GTA to see Niagara as a playground, like the people of San Francisco see Napa, we won’t have to worry about the effects of currency exchanges, passport issues and terrorism on tourism. American tourism would become a bonus.”
Bosc, who studied winemaking at the University of Burgundy in France, came to Canada in 1963. He arrived in Montreal and quickly got a job as a quality controller with the province’s liquor board. He was decanting defective wines for $1.25 an hour in 1963 and saw that many of the culprits were from an Ontario winery, Chateau Gai wines. He called to tell them what they were doing wrong and a week later had a job there. After a crash course in English, he eventually became chief winemaker and director of research and development. He stayed 15 years before starting out on his own. Bosc, a fifth generation winemaker whose wife, Andrée, is also a noted wine authority, is used to raising eyebrows. When his research to genetically improve the heartiness of his vines didn’t work out, he was the first in Canada to buy giant wind towers, at a cost of more than $600,000, to circulate warmer air through the vines in the winter. Most thought it a crazy move, but when Château des Charmes emerged mostly unscathed from recent brutal winters that knocked some wineries out of business, heads began to turn. The 15-metre towers are now popping up all over Niagara.
Although now 71, Bosc’s innovation continues, including an ambitious breeding and research program looking at 600 varieties. But his legacy is already carved in stone. The Niagara wine industry has transformed itself even just since 1990. Direct employment has doubled to 6,000 people and sales have exploded from about $160 million to $430 million last year. Paul-André says those numbers will seem “humble” just 15 years from now. Paul-André can’t hide his pride in the work and legacy of his father. “This is an example of a company that punches above its weight. The little guy can drive influence on an industry well beyond his economic influence. It’s the power, not of the dollar, but of ideas.”
‘We’re well on our way to becoming a jewel’
Biggest challenge:
Paul-André/Michèle: “Even though we had a great influence and inspired others to adopt this way of life and enter the industry, the pizza is getting sliced a lot of different ways. Continuing to have our share of the economic pie is a big challenge. … The young, flashy up-starts are getting all the attention, even though we’re doing the innovation, too. It’s about staying relevant.”
Biggest surprise:
Paul-André: “We’re well on the way to creating not the biggest wine industry in the world, by any means, but we’re well on our way to becoming a jewel. We had no idea that people would come along and make such investments in the other attractions like restaurants, spas and bed and breakfasts.”
Best decision:
Paul: “Following the estate winery model: growing our own vineyards and getting into tourism. And to do it on our own before others did. When I bought this land in 1987, free trade was coming. A lot of people were saying this industry was going to be wiped out and the big wineries were looking to become bottlers of imported wines.”
Worst decision:
Paul: “There hasn’t been a decision that hurt us. We’ve gotten off track sometimes, but nothing has turned us around.”
Learn the most:
Paul: “The education that I had didn’t teach me that much, but I’ve learned wherever I’ve gone. I research every-thing. I know who’s done it, where it’s done, where it works whenever I do something new. It’s easy to move fast when you know the science.”
Best advice given:
Paul-André: “John D. Rockefeller said there were three things to his success. One, you’ve got to get up early and get cracking. Two, you have to work a long day and a smart day. And three, make sure you strike oil. For us, it’s make sure you establish your vineyards and control your destiny.”
Best advice to give:
Paul-André: “There is only so much you can do yourself. Your talent and time is finite. Recruit and retain the very best people you can afford. We have people here 10, 15, 20 years. They are the unsung heroes in this story.”
Secret to success:
Paul-André: “It goes back to Dad’s ability to see opportunity where others didn’t. To look at the forest and not see the trees but to see tables and chairs.”
