Bosco, Agostino
Just another small family winery, now in the capable hands of Andrea Bosco, the Agostino Bosco winery has its origins in the holdings of grandfather Pietro Bosco's holdings in La Morra. Grapes were sold to the like of Prunotto and Pio Cesare for many years before Andrea’s father joined his father, Pietro, in the late 1960s and in 1979 finally decided to try his hand at making wine. At first most wine was sold locally in demijohn, with a small percentage being bottled for retail sale.
Pietro passed away in 1983, leaving the winery to his son, the eponymous Agostino, who in turn has left the winery in Andrea’s hands. After having graduated from enological school in 1995, Andrea worked a bit around the area before taking a more direct role in the daily operations in 2000, and he remains a very youthful winemaker to this day. As is often the case this small, 20,000 bottles a year operation has flown under the radar of most consumers, your truly included.
I do not recall having tasted many Bosco wines, and have to assume that they have recently upped their game because had I tasted wines like I tasted today I would surely have remembered.
In 2006 a new winery was built and one can say that this was the starting point for the Agostino Bosco winery we know today. Modern in design and able to utilize technology when needed. This is to a certain extent the driving philosophy here. In the vineyards the sustainable protocol is loosely followed in that systemic chemicals are used only early in the vegetative cycle, before flowering. Herbicides have not been used since the 2014 vintage.
Fermentation is all in temperature controlled stainless steel with selected yeasts, and malo follows in stainless as well. The wines come off as slightly modern in style if for no other reason than they are quite fresh and bright and there is no fear of acidity, though they are fairly traditionally made and while the Barbera sees some barrique and the Nebbiolo some tonneaux, the Barolos both are aged exclusively in medium sized botte. (3/18)
Agostino Bosco Dolcetto d’Alba Vantrin
From a vineyard that lies roughly between the frazione of Berri and Brandini. This is a vineyard originally planted by Pietro Bosco, and while many vines have been replanted over the years there remains a high percentage of old vines. Yields are roughly 50hl per hectare with a theoretical potential production of 9,000 bottles though typically they produce some 3,000 to 3,500 bottles per year
Fermented in stainless steel for about five days with 3 to 5 pumpovers per day. The wine undergoes a cold stabilization in outdoor tanks during the winter
2016 Agostino Bosco Dolcetto d’Alba Vantrin 13%
Black this is absolutely black in color. Very floral, and fairly intense on the nose but with pure and bright aromas of violets, almond and wild blueberry fruit that's a touch inky and spicy, inky and spicy blueberry. Light and fresh and pure with soft tannins that makes this a very playful wine with a lovely juicy bright texture, Precise and cleansing across the palate with good length and drive,. Just lovely if still a bit raw, but this is a textbook Dolcetto, pretty and just medium bodied. An exciting wine, with sweet tannin, and a lurking soil tone underneath, also a sneaky wine,in that it offers a lot if you pay attention but at the same time it's simply delicious if you don't. 91pts
Agostino Bosco Barbera d'Alba Superiore Volupta
A blend of three vineyards, two in La Morra that are about forty years old and the third a bit younger, in Verduno. Vinified separately with a first blend made before the wines goes into wood and the finale blend made after wood ageing
This sees 12-15 days of maceration followed by malo in stainless steel and then 14 months in mostly tonneaux and some barrique, one third of the wood is new.
7000 bottles are produced annually
2015 Agostino Bosco Barbera d'Alba Superiore Volupta 15%
Subtle and low on the nose with a pipe briar sweetness accenting plum and black cherry fruit. There's a tarriness here from the fruit that is married well to cigar box spice, a black cherry jamminess, with a nice cigar ash top note. A little soft in the mouth, not a soft wine but a soft Barbera, deep, broad and with an elegant layered feel showing off earthy tobacco and fresh leather flavors before finishing with super fresh cherry fruit on the moderately long finish. Air draws out a vanilla wash over the nose but in the mouth this is really dominated by the intense if not totally fresh fruit flavors, It's 15% alcohol is really not obvious at all and in fact this is rather fresher and lighter than one would expect on the palate, 89pts (3/18)
Agostino Bosco Langhe Nebbiolo Rurem
Until 2014 this was produced only from the two Barolo vineyards, the youngest vines and the vines that didn't get ripe enough for the Barolo, harvested earlier usual. Beginning in 2014 only 40% came from the Barolo vineyards with the remainder coming from a recently purchased vineyard which is close to the dolcetto vineyard In fact it was a Dolcetto vineyard, but one with full southern exposure where the Dolcetto tended toward over-ripeness. Andrea has grafted those over to Nebbiolo. The property he purchased, from four different owners, covers approximately 1.5 hectares and now includes about 1.15 hectares of vines, mostly Nebbiolo but also with some Barbera. 80% of the 2016 Nebbiolo will be produced from these vines.
Current production is between 2,000-3,500 bottles with the goal being to produce 4,000-4,5000 bottles
10 to 14 days of skin contact during fermentation is followed by malo in Stainless steel and then 13-14 months of wood ageing in a blend on 15 HL botte and used tonneaux.
2015 Agostino Bosco Langhe Nebbiolo Rurem 14%
Dark in color. Slightly spicy and dark aromas of underbrush, camphor, and a hint of roasted nuttiness greets the nose followed by chinato spiced notes. Enters the mouth with a lifted edge, then this settles in like a worn pair of shoes, all leather and wooly with a dark streak of fruit across the palate, There’s a lot of acid here but it's super well integrated, driving a fairly long tart cherry finish which is layered over a slatey mineral notes and lots of forest floor character. A somewhat light bodied wine, it dances across the palate with a fine tannin backbone but the tannins are well covered by the fruit. A structured and fairly bold wine but one that has plenty of appeal and with acids like this it's tough not to see this working superbly at the table. The finale is actually quite fruit driven and just slightly spicy. It's rich and savory and edgy and bright, and really very, very intensely flavored. 89pts (3/18)
Agostino Bosco Barolo Neirane
A leased vineyard in Verduno that was offered to the family by a family friend in 1998. While it once was a vineyard, the owner was planning on planting grain here so the Bosco family were quick to sign a long term lease and replant the vineyard to Nebbiolo with some Barbera as well.
This undergoes three weeks of skin contact followed by malo in stainless steel and then 24 months of ageing in 20hl and 25hl botte.
2014 Agostino Bosco Barolo Neirane 14%
A very subtle nose, there is low underbrush, violets and sweet spice here, gentle but ripe,. A small scaled wine but with a certain measure of richness displaying a lovely mineral drive from early on the palate under ripe, wild berry fruit. Tannins are soft, acids are good, there's some mint and almost medicinal floral distillate on the backend that yields to a more mineral finale. Nothing wrong here, not 100% of the potential of the vineyard but this is a solid offering for the vintage. There’s a slight rawness on the finale, savory, edgy, and long. 87pts (3/18)
2013 Agostino Bosco Barolo Neirane 14.5%
This has less color than the 2014, though with decidedly ,more violet and sweet spiciness on the nose, as well a s more underlying fruit though I think this is closing down. With black spice, and black fruit flavors, this has a much softer, more glycerin rich mouthfeel. Tight rosebuds, rose hips, sandalwood, pickled watermelon, along with red berry fruit all come together in a slightly smoked, ground coffee, perfumed way. This is definitely closing in the glass but one can tell that It's a lovely wine, elegant with red fruit and really transparent white chalky mineral tones that extend through the moderately long finish. The tannins here are super fine, lending this length and elegance. Firm but feminine if that makes sense. 91pts (3/18)
Agostino Bosco Barolo la Serra
From two adjacent parcels on the lower edge of La Serra bordering Brunate. Much of this vineyard was planted in 2002 when the rains made working the vineyard, which had been previously damaged by landslides in 1984, almost untenable. During excavation it was discovered that the vineyard rests on marne that ranges in depth from 2.4 to 4 meters. Drainage tiles were placed on top of this layer of Marne before the vineyard was repainted
This undergoes three weeks of skin contact followed by malo in stainless steel and then 24 months of ageing in 20hl and 25hl botte..
Normal production is approximately 3,500-4,000 bottles.
2014 Agostino Bosco Barolo la Serra 14%
Heathery alpine herbs and flower are pretty intense on the nose which shows lovely tea, bergamot, and dried pineapple aromas as well. Very perfumed and very attractive on the nose. almost a bit chunky in the mouth with fine tannins but with more weight than the Neirane and more depth. Great minerality underpins the intense, stoney, crushed berry fruit here and lends a vague yet attractive bitter edge, austere tannins. Fruit remains vaguely bitter but persists on the finish with fine length, elegance and terrific cut. Buy this and cellar it, this is missing nothing. A lovely rendering of the vintage with a finish that it so nervous, structured yet ripe and impressive length with succulent fruit through the finale. This is a good wine in any vintage. 92pts (3/18)
2013 Agostino Bosco Barolo La Serra 14.5%
This is wide open on the nose perfumed and sweeter than the 2014, though with a similar profile featuring violets, fennel seeds, small seeds, wild mint and some warm meatiness,then also showing some pickled watermelon a hint of wood spice and red hots. So much lusher in the mouth than the 2014, though this too has plenty of tension. Tannins are small scaled and retain an edge of austerity and float around in the mouth, transparent and admirably juicy on the palate with a fine, focused finish of spices and sandalwood. Probably closing down this is more nuanced than the 2014 but I'm not sure there is a significant qualitative difference e between the two. There a lot of resemblance here, this is ultimately a bit more rounded and certainly more aromatic but the drive of the finish on the 2014 is unmatched. This is simply more elegant and intense in a sneaky way than the 2014. 92pts (3/18)
Pietro passed away in 1983, leaving the winery to his son, the eponymous Agostino, who in turn has left the winery in Andrea’s hands. After having graduated from enological school in 1995, Andrea worked a bit around the area before taking a more direct role in the daily operations in 2000, and he remains a very youthful winemaker to this day. As is often the case this small, 20,000 bottles a year operation has flown under the radar of most consumers, your truly included.
I do not recall having tasted many Bosco wines, and have to assume that they have recently upped their game because had I tasted wines like I tasted today I would surely have remembered.
In 2006 a new winery was built and one can say that this was the starting point for the Agostino Bosco winery we know today. Modern in design and able to utilize technology when needed. This is to a certain extent the driving philosophy here. In the vineyards the sustainable protocol is loosely followed in that systemic chemicals are used only early in the vegetative cycle, before flowering. Herbicides have not been used since the 2014 vintage.
Fermentation is all in temperature controlled stainless steel with selected yeasts, and malo follows in stainless as well. The wines come off as slightly modern in style if for no other reason than they are quite fresh and bright and there is no fear of acidity, though they are fairly traditionally made and while the Barbera sees some barrique and the Nebbiolo some tonneaux, the Barolos both are aged exclusively in medium sized botte. (3/18)
Agostino Bosco Dolcetto d’Alba Vantrin
From a vineyard that lies roughly between the frazione of Berri and Brandini. This is a vineyard originally planted by Pietro Bosco, and while many vines have been replanted over the years there remains a high percentage of old vines. Yields are roughly 50hl per hectare with a theoretical potential production of 9,000 bottles though typically they produce some 3,000 to 3,500 bottles per year
Fermented in stainless steel for about five days with 3 to 5 pumpovers per day. The wine undergoes a cold stabilization in outdoor tanks during the winter
2016 Agostino Bosco Dolcetto d’Alba Vantrin 13%
Black this is absolutely black in color. Very floral, and fairly intense on the nose but with pure and bright aromas of violets, almond and wild blueberry fruit that's a touch inky and spicy, inky and spicy blueberry. Light and fresh and pure with soft tannins that makes this a very playful wine with a lovely juicy bright texture, Precise and cleansing across the palate with good length and drive,. Just lovely if still a bit raw, but this is a textbook Dolcetto, pretty and just medium bodied. An exciting wine, with sweet tannin, and a lurking soil tone underneath, also a sneaky wine,in that it offers a lot if you pay attention but at the same time it's simply delicious if you don't. 91pts
Agostino Bosco Barbera d'Alba Superiore Volupta
A blend of three vineyards, two in La Morra that are about forty years old and the third a bit younger, in Verduno. Vinified separately with a first blend made before the wines goes into wood and the finale blend made after wood ageing
This sees 12-15 days of maceration followed by malo in stainless steel and then 14 months in mostly tonneaux and some barrique, one third of the wood is new.
7000 bottles are produced annually
2015 Agostino Bosco Barbera d'Alba Superiore Volupta 15%
Subtle and low on the nose with a pipe briar sweetness accenting plum and black cherry fruit. There's a tarriness here from the fruit that is married well to cigar box spice, a black cherry jamminess, with a nice cigar ash top note. A little soft in the mouth, not a soft wine but a soft Barbera, deep, broad and with an elegant layered feel showing off earthy tobacco and fresh leather flavors before finishing with super fresh cherry fruit on the moderately long finish. Air draws out a vanilla wash over the nose but in the mouth this is really dominated by the intense if not totally fresh fruit flavors, It's 15% alcohol is really not obvious at all and in fact this is rather fresher and lighter than one would expect on the palate, 89pts (3/18)
Agostino Bosco Langhe Nebbiolo Rurem
Until 2014 this was produced only from the two Barolo vineyards, the youngest vines and the vines that didn't get ripe enough for the Barolo, harvested earlier usual. Beginning in 2014 only 40% came from the Barolo vineyards with the remainder coming from a recently purchased vineyard which is close to the dolcetto vineyard In fact it was a Dolcetto vineyard, but one with full southern exposure where the Dolcetto tended toward over-ripeness. Andrea has grafted those over to Nebbiolo. The property he purchased, from four different owners, covers approximately 1.5 hectares and now includes about 1.15 hectares of vines, mostly Nebbiolo but also with some Barbera. 80% of the 2016 Nebbiolo will be produced from these vines.
Current production is between 2,000-3,500 bottles with the goal being to produce 4,000-4,5000 bottles
10 to 14 days of skin contact during fermentation is followed by malo in Stainless steel and then 13-14 months of wood ageing in a blend on 15 HL botte and used tonneaux.
2015 Agostino Bosco Langhe Nebbiolo Rurem 14%
Dark in color. Slightly spicy and dark aromas of underbrush, camphor, and a hint of roasted nuttiness greets the nose followed by chinato spiced notes. Enters the mouth with a lifted edge, then this settles in like a worn pair of shoes, all leather and wooly with a dark streak of fruit across the palate, There’s a lot of acid here but it's super well integrated, driving a fairly long tart cherry finish which is layered over a slatey mineral notes and lots of forest floor character. A somewhat light bodied wine, it dances across the palate with a fine tannin backbone but the tannins are well covered by the fruit. A structured and fairly bold wine but one that has plenty of appeal and with acids like this it's tough not to see this working superbly at the table. The finale is actually quite fruit driven and just slightly spicy. It's rich and savory and edgy and bright, and really very, very intensely flavored. 89pts (3/18)
Agostino Bosco Barolo Neirane
A leased vineyard in Verduno that was offered to the family by a family friend in 1998. While it once was a vineyard, the owner was planning on planting grain here so the Bosco family were quick to sign a long term lease and replant the vineyard to Nebbiolo with some Barbera as well.
This undergoes three weeks of skin contact followed by malo in stainless steel and then 24 months of ageing in 20hl and 25hl botte.
2014 Agostino Bosco Barolo Neirane 14%
A very subtle nose, there is low underbrush, violets and sweet spice here, gentle but ripe,. A small scaled wine but with a certain measure of richness displaying a lovely mineral drive from early on the palate under ripe, wild berry fruit. Tannins are soft, acids are good, there's some mint and almost medicinal floral distillate on the backend that yields to a more mineral finale. Nothing wrong here, not 100% of the potential of the vineyard but this is a solid offering for the vintage. There’s a slight rawness on the finale, savory, edgy, and long. 87pts (3/18)
2013 Agostino Bosco Barolo Neirane 14.5%
This has less color than the 2014, though with decidedly ,more violet and sweet spiciness on the nose, as well a s more underlying fruit though I think this is closing down. With black spice, and black fruit flavors, this has a much softer, more glycerin rich mouthfeel. Tight rosebuds, rose hips, sandalwood, pickled watermelon, along with red berry fruit all come together in a slightly smoked, ground coffee, perfumed way. This is definitely closing in the glass but one can tell that It's a lovely wine, elegant with red fruit and really transparent white chalky mineral tones that extend through the moderately long finish. The tannins here are super fine, lending this length and elegance. Firm but feminine if that makes sense. 91pts (3/18)
Agostino Bosco Barolo la Serra
From two adjacent parcels on the lower edge of La Serra bordering Brunate. Much of this vineyard was planted in 2002 when the rains made working the vineyard, which had been previously damaged by landslides in 1984, almost untenable. During excavation it was discovered that the vineyard rests on marne that ranges in depth from 2.4 to 4 meters. Drainage tiles were placed on top of this layer of Marne before the vineyard was repainted
This undergoes three weeks of skin contact followed by malo in stainless steel and then 24 months of ageing in 20hl and 25hl botte..
Normal production is approximately 3,500-4,000 bottles.
2014 Agostino Bosco Barolo la Serra 14%
Heathery alpine herbs and flower are pretty intense on the nose which shows lovely tea, bergamot, and dried pineapple aromas as well. Very perfumed and very attractive on the nose. almost a bit chunky in the mouth with fine tannins but with more weight than the Neirane and more depth. Great minerality underpins the intense, stoney, crushed berry fruit here and lends a vague yet attractive bitter edge, austere tannins. Fruit remains vaguely bitter but persists on the finish with fine length, elegance and terrific cut. Buy this and cellar it, this is missing nothing. A lovely rendering of the vintage with a finish that it so nervous, structured yet ripe and impressive length with succulent fruit through the finale. This is a good wine in any vintage. 92pts (3/18)
2013 Agostino Bosco Barolo La Serra 14.5%
This is wide open on the nose perfumed and sweeter than the 2014, though with a similar profile featuring violets, fennel seeds, small seeds, wild mint and some warm meatiness,then also showing some pickled watermelon a hint of wood spice and red hots. So much lusher in the mouth than the 2014, though this too has plenty of tension. Tannins are small scaled and retain an edge of austerity and float around in the mouth, transparent and admirably juicy on the palate with a fine, focused finish of spices and sandalwood. Probably closing down this is more nuanced than the 2014 but I'm not sure there is a significant qualitative difference e between the two. There a lot of resemblance here, this is ultimately a bit more rounded and certainly more aromatic but the drive of the finish on the 2014 is unmatched. This is simply more elegant and intense in a sneaky way than the 2014. 92pts (3/18)