Once upon a time, there was a guy named Bryon, and even though he had a full-time job running one of the country’s largest paint production plants here in the Lehigh Valley, he exhausted all of his spare time following his passion and making wine in his family basement. All with the dream of maybe someday owning his own winery. He invited neighbors and friends to come to his home weekly to make and drink wine in his basement. One could argue the level of quality of that wine, but it was good enough, and it made everyone happy who made and drank it. Unbeknownst to Bryon, his neighbor David (who had many businesses of his own) was a huge wine connoisseur. David had a great love for the best California Cabernets. He had also always dreamed of one day owning a winery and maybe even moving to Napa Valley. Every October, large refrigerator trucks carrying grapes would come to Bryon’s house to be made into wine. Right on cue, all of his friends and neighbors would show up, and the winemaking and celebrating would ensue into the late hours of the night. On one evening, David looked over at his neighbor’s house to see all the happiness & laughter & hijinks and decided to find out for himself what the heck was going on over there…
When Bryon told David, “it’s cool we’re just here making and drinking wine.” David said, “I love wine, let’s try some.” As folklore has it, David was not impressed. He suggested instead that we make some really great wine together with only the best grapes from California and use Oak barrels. They started in Bryon’s basement with one American Oak barrel and some real quality grapes from California. At the first tasting of this new elixir they had created, after six months of fermentation, they danced in glee in Bryon’s basement to celebrate what they had done. It was so good that they invited their friends and neighbors over to taste it too. When it became time to bottle it 1 ears later, there was only f a barrel left. They decided they needed to produce more and get even higher quality grapes and barrels. They then decided to go to a wine show in Lancaster. When they went to the registration table to sign in, the guy at the counter said: “Well, what’s your winery name”? They looked at each other said,” we don’t have one yet.” The guy at the registration booth looked at their names and took half of each of their names – Boos & Rothrock and said, “well, your name today is BOOS-ROCK Winery.” They looked at each other and claimed “BRILLIANT” and the name stuck! Next up, where are we going to make this great wine as it was time to move out of the basement.
As luck would have it, David’s family owned a 6-acre parcel of land out in Breinigsville (complete with a spring-fed pond). It was a perfect fit for a winery and a vineyard. They started off in 2012 with one room and 14 brand new French Oak Barrels along with amazing grapes from Napa Valley. The grapes were picked right off the vines and shipped across the country in refrigerated tractor-trailers. Once they arrived, they were destemmed and fermented with the best nutrients until the brix levels were just right. At that point, they were pressed and fermented in the French Oak Barrels. They were then racked every 4 months. After 2-years in the Oak barrels, the wine was put into stainless steel fermenters to settle down for 6 more months. Then the wine was bottled and left to rest for 6-months and later released to the public. The results and feedback from everyone were fantastic! The wine was amazing! So many people loved the wine that they started to come up and volunteer on weekends, and the winery continued to grow. First, it was 14 new French Oak Barrels, then 30, then 50, then 70, and now 100. They also continued to expand into different grapes and wines like Merlot, Cab Franc, Super Tuscan Blend, Chardonnay, and even superior sweet wines like Pink Catawba & Red Raspberry. But their passion was California Cabernet Sauvignon. So, they set out to make the best Cabernet possible east of Napa Valley. They were able to start purchasing their grapes from some of the finest vineyards in Napa, Lake County, and Mendocino, California. They were also ready to begin purchasing from some of the top growers, including the grower considered the best in California, Andy Beckstoffer. Today, Boos-Rock Winery is producing some fantastic Cabernets from all different regions in California as they continue to perfect the process and use the best grapes, nutrients, and Oak Barrels available. They are now open for sales, private tastings, and private events for Club Members. A new Wine Club is coming with over 30,000 bottles available. Their wine is also now being sold in local Restaurants and Country Clubs in the Lehigh Valley.
Not bad for a couple of guys in a basement 8 short years ago with a vision and passion for great wine. Great fruit * Great Wine = BOOS-ROCK Wine! For more information, please contact Doreen Carl, Director of Operations at 484-223-0625 or email at doreen@boosrock.com.
