Inside the Paul Bosc Estate Vineyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake last Thursday, conversation hushed as a familiar, missed voice echoed through the speakers.
The late Paul Bosc Sr.’s laugh — warm and unmistakable — filled the room, drawing smiles from guests who remembered the man who helped shape Niagara’s wine industry.
The Bosc family hosted an invite-only celebration on Oct. 9 at their York Road vineyard, honouring his legacy with a dual event — the launch of “The Winemaker’s Gamble,” a new biography by NOTL author Jill Troyer and the unveiling of newly built facilities on the property.
Paul-André Bosc, son of the late winemaker, opened the evening with remarks before handing the mic to wine writer Tony Aspler, who penned the book’s foreword.
Author Jill Troyer then took the stage to discuss the book and play a seven-minute audio montage from her interview with Paul Bosc Sr.
Troyer said the response to her book has been “really positive” and it’s been rewarding to see the story get the attention it deserves.
She said she was thankful for the strong turnout and support at the event, which included dinner and complimentary wine tastings.
Grinning as he listened to the recording, Donald Triggs — Bosc Sr.’s former boss at Château-Gai Wines in Niagara Falls — reflected on their time together.
“We got to work together a lot,” he said in an interview. “We had a lot of fun together.”
Troyer’s new biography follows Bosc Sr.’s journey from his roots in France to founding Château des Charmes in 1978 and becoming the first in Ontario to grow Vitis vinifera grapes on a commercial scale — the classic European varieties behind fine wines.
“Paul developed his whole vision,” said Triggs. “Look at the vineyard that’s planted around here.”
“He broke a lot of the barriers to how it should be done.”
Leonard Pennachetti, president of Cave Spring Vineyard and a fellow pioneer in the early years of Ontario’s modern wine, said Bosc Sr.’s work “was truly radical.”
“We all learned from him,” he said.
Bosc brought with him a depth of knowledge from France, exactly what the area’s young wine industry needed, Pennachetti said.
“All of the institutions that we rely on today — they didn’t exist. We needed to find that information elsewhere,” he said.
“There were only a handful of people that even had any knowledge. Paul was one of them.”
Pennachetti first heard about Bosc through the Inniskillin circle — he went to the same high school as the winery’s co-founder Don Ziraldo, and was part of the same early wine industry network, he said.
Knowing what exists today, he said it’s hard to imagine a time when none of it existed and when experts insisted it couldn’t be done. “And here we are now.”
Troyer signed copies of her book for guests, many of whom said they were eager to read it.
One of them, Joseph Mulholland, said the book highlights the people and risks behind the town’s wine reputation.
“It’s nice to hear the other side of the story — it rounds out Niagara-on-the-Lake,” he said in an interview.
Hearing those stories “enriches everything the town is about and how we’ve become a wine destination,” Mulholland added.
“The Winemaker’s Gamble” sold out quickly at the NOTL Museum but has since been restocked.
It’s also available at the Old Niagara Bookshop on Regent Street, and can be ordered directly from the publisher, Mosaic Press, or pre-ordered through Amazon, Indigo and other major retailers.
