I RARELY write about one single producer but a glass of malbec saved the day last week when I over-sizzled the lamb chops. It reminded me of just how many years I've relied on the wines of Luigi Bosca in times of culinary or personal crisis.
In fact, it's 26 years ago now since I opened my first one, an assemblage of malbec and merlot which I remember noting down as gorgeous. Since that day, I've always kept a Bosca close by, like that best friend you keep on speed dial or the box set of Friends that you simply can't throw away even though you don't have a DVD player any more.
Like most New World wineries, Bosca uses a wide range of grapes with many produced as single varietals and others in blends but, for me, their No1 hits will always feature a starring role for malbec. Yeah, good malbec from Argentina is a bit like a cliche now but you need to remember that these guys tamed the beast years before most of their rivals. They were releasing soft, extremely complex fine wines at a time when much of the opposition were still producing big hairy beasts with enough tannins to coat your teeth and they have continued to stay ahead of the pack.
Take their Cabernet Bouchet, for example, which uses old clones of Cabernet Franc. I'd challenge anyone to find a finer example at any price from anywhere in the world.
Follow me on Twitter @gerardfinewine
Luigi Bosca Malbec Seleccion de Vistalba 2018
One of the most aromatic malbecs I've tasted, but unlike many wines with plenty on the nose, it doesn't disappoint on the palate. Soft, rich autumn fruits with gentle notes of spice and tobacco on the finish. Its a gorgeous wine and a steal at this price.
Waitrose £16.99
Gewurztraminer, Bosca
This one shows the sheer versatility of the boys and girls at Bosca. If pudding wines float your boat, this is about to become your lifeboat. It’s got a typical floral nose that leads into a liquidised tropical fruit bowl...no other way to describe it. The finish is clean and quite refreshing for this style of wine. It's stunning, folks.
Bancroftwines.com £15.99 50cl
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here