I know that you may be surprised to find that I was at a wine tasting at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  The wines featured were by the winemaker David Box who started in Michigan went to California and has now returned to Michigan.  He attended Hope College with dual majors of Religion and English, discovered some quality wines and took off to California without a job, but with determination.  He started with a job at Grgich Hills and eventually became their vineyard manager.  He arrived there at the most opportune time, as they were converting to biodynamic farming and there are over three-hundred-fifty-acres to work.  He said that he considers himself to be a farmer, who makes wine.

The first time that I discovered Bos Wines was naturally at The Fine Wine Source.  I tried the Bos Wine Moon BOS Harvest Red 2015 with blended fruit from Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley, Clarksburg and East Bay.  I also had the Bos Wine DEO Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2015.  Then in the ominous year of 2020 we were in Louisville, Kentucky having dinner because such niceties disappeared and we had as our opening bottle, the Bos Wine Ode to Fume Napa Valley 2015 with their tagline of “Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs” by William Shakespeare and an homage to Pouilly-Fume of the Loire. 

The first wine that I will discuss was the Bos Wines Ruby Marquette Napa Valley 2019.  What surprised me, was that the wine is made from the Marquette grape that I always associate with the Cold-Hardy grape states like Michigan.  It was created at the University of Minnesota, originally crossed in 1989 and introduced in 2006 and is a cousin of Frontenac, a French-American hybrid and a grandson of Pinot Noir.  This wine is produced using semi-carbonic techniques.  I am not a chemist, so I will try to make it easy and was discovered when carbon dioxide was being experimented with for grape preservation.  Carbonic maceration occurs when clusters of intact grapes are in a sealed tank filled with the gas.  Almost any type of container can be used and one gets that effervescent sensation found in Beaujolais Nouveau, the “maceration traditionelle” of Beaujolais is a semi-carbonic technique and whole clusters are not mandatory.  This was a fun wine to try and the wine has a pretty light ruby color with notes of cherry, and on the palate, it was a medium-bodied wine that offered some fruit with some effervescence and ended with some spice.  The owner of The Fine Wine Source was so enamored with the freshness of this wine, that you can only buy it at the winery or at this wine shop.