DAVE BOS

by Sharon Flesher

About 20 years ago, Dave Bos was fresh out of college and curious about wine, so he moved to Traverse City, where he worked for a couple of years harvesting grapes and bartending. Then, like many a pioneer, Dave Bos heeded the call to go west, a journey that gained him a wife and two children in addition to honing his skills in viticulture and wine-making at some of the most prestigious estates in Napa Valley. He started his own wine label there in 2010, purchasing grapes from growers in his consulting business and releasing a small portfolio of wines that garnered glowing reviews in the crowded Napa scene.

When the young family wanted to expand and plant their own deep roots, it was California girl Jackie who suggested Dave’s native Michigan, where Bos is now pioneering biodynamic farming and transitioning his Napa-born BOS wine label to a Michigan-centric brand based in Elk Rapids.

Despite producing fewer than 1,000 cases of wine in Michigan, having none of his own vineyards in production, and opening a tasting room not on any wine tour trail, Bos is creating a big buzz. With his affable personality and talent for networking, he's spread tendrils to vineyards, wineries and retailers in the region, where his influence may be growing faster than his own label.

“He has done so much for our wine community up here, everything from consulting on vineyards on both peninsulas and sharing his biodynamic farming experience and passion, to connecting people for local collaborations, and bringing together people for fun experiences,” says Alaina Leech, co-owner of Traverse City Lake District Wine Co., which held a soldout tasting event for BOS wines in November, the first (and as of January, only) winemaker to get a solo event at the shop since the pandemic began. “He’s one of the most charismatic people I’ve ever met. We’re all so lucky that he and Jackie have landed here.”

His ambition? Simple. “I want to make world class wine and change farming,” he says. “I want people to come up here and say this is the greenest spot in the midwest.”

Bos is an advocate of biodynamic agriculture, a holistic and ecological approach to farming and food inspired by the work of early 20th-century Austrian philosopher and scientist Rudolf Steiner. Biodynamic vineyards have been increasing in popularity worldwide, particularly in France, where some well-known estates employ its methods. In Napa, Bos helped convert Grgich Hills Estate to biodynamic, which led to consulting gigs at other California wineries interested in doing the same. In Michigan, he’s bringing biodynamic methods to Mari Vineyards on Old Mission Peninsula, where he serves as vineyard manager.

Bos says he’s seeing increased interest in organic and biodynamic methods of farming, with many vineyards starting small, usually with composting. “Everyone is transitioning in that direction,” he says. “Farmers need to be innovating at all times, even more so now because of climate change.”

Like organic agriculture, biodynamic farming eschews chemicals, but it includes esoteric practices related to astrological and lunar cycles. While it certainly has its detractors, those who favor the methods point to the results.

“It brings health, quality, and vitality to the farm system,” says Bos. “I’ve seen sick vineyards become healthier, going from sickly vines to making world class wines.”

Rudolf Steiner

Bos is making his Michigan wines at Mari Vineyards. The pandemic and wildfires impacted his ability to make wine in California for the past two vintages, but the Napa operation will continue to be a focus of the brand. He has plans for his own vineyards near Elk Rapids, but in the meantime, he’s working with local farmers who grow grapes to his specifications.

Mike and Darlene Heuser have been farming exclusively for Bos on their 1.5 acres near Interlochen. They are excited about his results from their vines of valvin muscat, a disease-resistant white grape hybrid developed at Cornell University and released in 2006. Bos is using it in a blend he calls Peridot, a refreshing dry wine that tastes like summer in northern Michigan, with a palate of flowers and peaches.

“Dave thinks it may turn out to be a bigger seller than his Riesling,” enthused Mike Heuser while sampling a glass at the Bos Wine Garden tasting room in Elk Rapids on a chilly December evening. “He makes really good wine and we’re happy to have our own little stock of it.”

Bos opened his tasting room, the first for his label, in the summer of 2021 on Ames Street in Elk Rapids. It has a comfortable farmhouse vibe and a garden out back, which will eventually provide culinary inputs for the tasting room experience. Curating his wine with food is a key practice Bos began in California, pairing with charcuterie made by a friend in Napa. At the Elk Rapids tasting room, the curated pairing is offered by reservation. Many tasting rooms discontinued walk-up bar service during the pandemic, and Bos elected to never start it.

“The idea here is for people to come in and sit down and have an experience,” Bos said. “We were going to a sit down experience before the pandemic. I’m so thankful that the pandemic taught people what a good tasting experience can be like.”

BOS Wine is available from select wine shops in northern Michigan, at the Elk Rapids tasting room (limited hours) and at boswine.com. Two clubs are offered: a MiCa club of four bottles each quarter, and a Wine and Swine Club of six bottles paired with artisan charcuterie.

Previously a journalist for United Press International (UPI), the News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) and Congressional Quarterly, Sharon Flesher now writes independently from Traverse City, Mich. She is an enthusiastic student of wine and she reads too much. Find her on the web at http://twofemmes.com/