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Flory Bosa
Flory Bosa sits in her warehouse among sacks of supplies used by winemakers all over the province.
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Bosagrape Warehouse
This view of the warehouse gives some idea of the long and varied list of materials available to wine makers
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Bosagrape Lab Supplies
This corner of the Bosagrape warehouse is dedicated to a vast array of lab equipment.
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Flory Bosa
Flory Bosa sits in her warehouse among sacks of supplies used by winemakers all over the province.
Flory and Dennis Bosa didn’t set out to become one of the top winery and beer supply companies in BC. They were competitive home wine makers who ended up sourcing out and bringing in grapes and juice for themselves and their fellow home wine makers. By 1989, their knowledge and sourcing of supplies had reached the tipping point, and Flory and her husband decided to incorporate Bosagrape Winery Supplies Ltd.
From Living Room to Labware
“Our living room was like a store by then,” laughs Flory Bosa. “My kids were opening the door for absolutely anybody because so many people were coming to the house. We had to make a decision to make this larger.”
They now have two 5000 square foot warehouses in Burnaby. When new products come onto the market, Bosagrape gets the call to represent them.
“Our selection of wine lab products covers everything you would need from the day you get your grapes until the day you bottle,” says Flory. “Because we have worked with all the equipment, we can answer almost every question that comes our way.”
At Bosagrape, you can completely equip your wine lab, and keep it well supplied. Walking through their showroom, you’ll see reagents, pH meters, hydrometers, thermometers, glassware, and testing equipment. “It’s not just about doing the test and getting a value at the end,” says Flory. “Once you get that number, you have to do something with it. We have the products to help you deal with your results.”
The nearly endless list of products may still not include what someone is used to, which Flory knows from dealing with wine makers from other countries. “We have people from France or New Zealand that come here, and they are not familiar with the products we stock. They used different solutions back home. We research and then source the proper items to help them transition to what it available here.”
Bosagrape stocks more than lab supplies. “We have all the equipment from crushers and presses to fermenters and stainless steel tanks,” Flory says. “We have oak barrels and we have bungs. We have sanitizing equipment; we have racks, barrel stirrers, and racking tubes. Pretty much everything and anything any wine maker would need.”
When the Bosas aren’t working, they are traveling and going to trade shows, sometimes as attendees, other times as exhibitors. “We like to get our information directly from the manufacturer,” she explains.
“Then we do trade shows where we are the exhibitors. We will be at the Wine Island Growers’ Association show on Vancouver Island on July 11th and 12th, and at the BCWGC 14th Annual Enology & Viticulture Conference and Tradeshow, on July 15th and 16th, in Penticton.”
High Inventory = Lower Customer Costs
It is quite unusual to have the breadth of product lines that Bosagrape carries. “We have so much inventory,” says Flory, “and I think that it has helped the longevity of the company. For example, we stock many different malolactic cultures in different sizes and from different manufacturers. We have a lot invested in stock because we want to make sure we have it when you need it. We try to keep all we need here so you can take it home with you that day, or we can ship it from here.”
There’s also the convenience of carrying similar products from different manufacturers. “We make a huge selection of yeasts available to you to make it easy to try different strains from several manufacturers. Wine makers can buy trial sizes of one or two of each of the yeasts to see which works for them.”
Beyond a huge selection, customers can rely on Bosagrape for service. “If a customer wants to do a trial of certain product, and doesn’t want the 25kg package, then we can break it down and repackage it for them,” explains Flory.
Beware, though--if you walk into the showroom, you may never want to leave. “When people walk in the door the first time, whether they are from a big winery or a home winemaker, they tell me they feel like they’ve walked into a toy store,” she laughs.
