The historical indications about this grapevine are very scarce and generally do not appear earlier than the second half of XIX century. Among the ampelographers from 1800, the only count di Rovasenda (1877) mentioned the ‘Uva Bosco’ (Bosco grape) as from Liguria. All the other authors, included Giorgio Gallesio who did not neglected any grape from Liguria of a certain importance, omitted this variety. According to Dell’Olio e Macaluso (1965), who edited for the Ministry of Agriculture the ‘Bosco’ monograph, only in the last decades of XIX century the variety appeared in the lists of grapes related to the Ligurian provinces, so that a certain cultural importance could be presumed in the areas of Genoa and, at a lesser extend, of Savona. Its culture would expand towards the eastern part of the region only after the phylloxera crisis, to become, together with Albarola and Vermentino, one of the major varieties of Cinque Terre, present till the area of Sarzana at the extreme east side of the region.

What previously stated about the late historical appearance, together with a somewhat “distance” from the other traditional grapes from Liguria under the morphological features, do support for Bosco a likely allochthon origin and the introduction into the region not earlier than 1800. 

After a certain expansion during 1900, the cultural importance of Bosco decreased in the last decades replaced by Vermentino. Bosco today is mainly grown in Eastern Liguria, particularly in the Cinque Terre. Occasionally it can be found in the surroundings of Savona, while it is not present in the province of Imperia.

In the area of Finale (Savona) it has been found with the eccentric name of ‘Pane e torta’ (‘Bred and cake’).

Bosco’s bunches are large, loose, and berries have a thick and strong skin. In the past the grapes were used for fresh consumption and for storage during winter, because of their high keeping and shipping resistance. These same characteristics made Bosco’s grapes very suitable to drying before fermentation. The wine Sciacchetrà from Cinque Terre, an homemade passito as much renowned as rare, is precisely made with Bosco grapes, which are its appropriate and fundamental ingredients.  Other wines are also made with Bosco, especially in the eastern side of Liguria.