The Godfather of Northern Michigan Wine...Bernie Rink

Nov. 9, 2005

Every industry has them, the ones that are simply known by their first name. In music just say “Elvis” or “Madonna” and in politics “Rudy” or “Arnold” and the last names just are not necessary. In local wine circles you just need to mention the name “Bernie,” and everyone knows whom you are talking about. There is and only will be one Bernie Rink and depending on how you size that up everyone will agree “Thank God.”
He is called by some the “Godfather” of the Northern Michigan wine region that now boasts 20 wineries with five more projected to open in a couple of years. But Bernie Rink of Boskydel Vineyards never set out to start a wine region, he simply wanted to make good affordable table wines.
He has succeeded on all accounts and now area wineries, grape growers and his customers want to come together to honor him. At a dinner on November 10, 2005 at the Hagerty Center fans of Bernie will gather to celebrate and “roast and toast” him. All proceeds will go to a Scholarship Fund, being established by area vintners and grape growers to benefit the Great Lakes Culinary Institute.

A BIG YEAR
This marks a big year for Bernie Rink. According to his son Jim Rink, (a successful wine writer) Bernie first planted grapes in 1965. In 1975 he opened his tasting room and add in the fact that he and his wife Suzanne are closing in on their 50th wedding anniversary, so there really is a lot to celebrate.
Bernie, the former director of the library at Northwestern Michigan College, came up with the idea of planting grapes while reading a book about grape growing and realizing that the best wine regions of the world were on the 45th Parallel. Coincidently, Bernie owned 16 acres of land on the 45th Parallel in the heart of the Leelanau Peninsula.
His five sons would eventually build a baseball diamond on some of that acreage next to the grapes Bernie had planted. It even appeared that the ball diamond might remain safe when Bernie bought 40 more acres, but that wasn’t the case. The ball diamond gave way to more grapes. Some believe Bernie truly needed the space; others concur that by eliminating the ball diamond he freed up his sons from their baseball pursuits for “slave labor” to work in the vineyard and in 1975 to help build the tasting room and winemaking operation.
Jim Rink remembers those early days of “slave labor” as actually being fun. The brothers even made up little jingles they would sing while working.

“We work at Boskydel,
the closest thing to hell.
We’re never treated well,
at slave camp Boskydel.”

HOUSEHOLD NAMES
Bernie has numerous loyal customers, some who venture hundreds of miles annually to buy his wines. While vinifera grapes (Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir) are essentially household names Bernie believed that French Hybrids would grow the best here, as he believed the hearty hybrids would be better suited for Northern Michigan winters. While other wineries have opened and are growing vinifera Bernie remains loyal to his hybrids.
“We wouldn’t want it any other way,” said, Paul Hughes of Lake Orion (a 25 year customer of Boskydel. “We go to dinner parties and everyone has a Chardonnay and a Merlot. No one really pays attention, but we serve Bernie’s Vignoles and De Chaunac and not only do people love them they have never heard of these style of grapes. Then it leads us to talking about Bernie and then our friends want to go and visit.”
Now that can be a good thing or a bad thing. Bernie has his own customer service techniques and while they work for him Disney has yet to adopt them. Some on the peninsula even refer to him as “The Wine Nazi,” in reference to the “Soup Nazi” on Seinfeld. How you see Bernie is really dependent on how you get to know him.
Come in with seven friends and buy one bottle and you better not let the door hit you on the “you know what” on the way out. Now come in with seven friends and have everyone buy a case and you have a friend for life. Being on Bernie’s good side opens the door to a world of commentary and philosophy. No need to tune into Rush or any of those other radio/TV talking heads; just spend an hour with Bernie and the world will quickly come into perspective.
Now back on that customer service thing. If you are reading this article and thinking about getting a van full of friends together and heading out to visit with Bernie at Boskydel you better do a head count. If you have more than eight in your party the extras better stay back. If you have more than eight Bernie won’t serve you and probably will send you packing. His tasting room is small and only holds eight comfortably and with the exception of the occasional assistance from his sons (one lives in the area and others come back and visit) he mans the tasting room by himself.

A WINE ICON
At 79 Bernie has become an icon. Not just on the Leelanau Peninsula but in several wine circles. There isn’t a winemaker or winery proprietor in the north that hasn’t ventured to see Bernie for advice. Advice seekers are not just winemakers many a customer has received advice on life from Bernie whether they wanted it our not.
At the end of the day it really is all about the wine. There is something special about sitting down an opening a bottle of Boskydel during dinner. It is probably because in every bottle there is a little bit of Bernie and a little bit of Bernie is good for everyone.
To learn more about the dinner to honor Bernie, and his wife Suzanne (who kept his dinner warm many a night while he held court with locals long after his tasting room closed,) visit www.lpwines.com or call
(231) 938-1811. Evening highlights will include a “Library Wine” reception featuring a collection of cellared wines from Boskydel and other area wineries. A gourmet dinner will be served with wine pairings from Boskydel. The evening will conclude with a “Roast and Toast” of Bernie with closing comments from the master himself.