Globe & Mail
June 5, 1999
Kenneth Bagnell (excerpted)
The château-like architecture of
some Niagara wineries might seem a bit imitative, but if you
allow your imagination a little latitude, they give this landscape
a fresh appeal. Near the village of St.David's is the most
stunning of all in buildings in the region - a stone mansion
that is the winery of Château des Charmes. It rises in an
ocean of vineyards, almost 100 hectares, its walls and roof
the work of European stonemasons, mostly from Italy but living
in Niagara. The strength of its lines, the burnished lustre
of its stone, its presence beneath a canopy of brilliant blue
create a stage-like, utterly memorable impression.
It is owned by the Bosc family, whose patriach, Paul Bosc,
was a winemaker in France. He immigrated to Canada in the
1960s and two decades later had built his own modest winery,
which has grown to produce yearly over a million bottles of
wine. Bosc has won hundreds of awards in North America and
Europe, been given a doctorate by Brock University in St.Catharines,
Ontario, and has been dubbed "The Baron Philippe Rothschild
of Ontario."
One of Bosc's sons, Paul Jr. took
us strolling through the mansion, built in 1993 at a cost
of over $6 million. Its stunning foyer draws the eye upward
to an octagonal atrium.
It has hospitality rooms, a retail store, even a theatre and
down below, the most modern production system where over 25
different wine age in casks imported from France. Over 100,000
people visit every year. Corporations, some from nearby New
York state rent hospitality rooms for meetings and social
evenings. I tasted, once again, its famous chardonnay, called
simply Paul Bosc Estate. It's a flavourful win that has made
a great name for itself and was declared winner of the gold
medal at Vinexpo in Bordeaux.
Earlier, as we were leaving his winery,
Paul Bosc Jr. offered a comment on the future of Niagara wine:
"As long as there is romance in
life," he predicted, "
there will be a place for wine." And he reminded us
of recent studies attesting to the benefits of wine in moderation.
He was not the first Paul to point out wine's positive influence
on health. Almost 2,000 years ago, the Apostle Paul, in a
letter to Timothy, urges him to "have
a little wine for the stomach's sake." And who are
any of us to disagree with scripture, especially in the summer
in the vineyards of Niagara?
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