The 2006 Zinfandel Port closes out the week on releases from Brutucao Cellars I'm covering at this time. However, considering how impressed I am with the wines from this producer, I expect I'll cover other releases from them in the future. They're also on my short list of wineries to visit on my next trip to California.
Before I get to the Zinfandel Port though I thought I'd mention a couple of things about their wine club. Every wine club has it's perks and benefits. Brutocao Cellars has one that seems unique. With a small membership fee when you join they give you a 3 liter bottle of wine. It's worth noting that age-worthy wines tend to do even better in large format bottles. Of course their wine club also includes the normal discounts and free tastings most clubs feature too. Tours at the winery are also free to members. It's my understanding that they have a pretty large and active 
membership that's growing all the time. Their wines are already reasonably priced in my opinion, add a wine club discount on top of that and you're looking at some real bargains. Check the wine-club specifics out at their web-page, which is very well laid out and informative.
The 2006 Brutocao Cellars Zinfandel Port leads with a nose full of berry and mocha notes. The moment this Port hits your lips you get sweet candied black cherry that carries on all the way through the finish. The mid palate features more berry and cherry fruit as well as some spice. The finish, which carries on for a nice long while features fruitcake notes and lingering mocha characteristics. This Zinfandel Port is smooth and silky and doesn't drink hot at all as some Zin Ports have a tendency to.
I found this wine to be a perfect match for chocolate covered cherries. But it would also go well with dark chocolate, plum pudding or a host of other desserts. The other alternative is to make this Port the dessert and let it shine on it's own. 540 cases were made and it's available in both 375 ml and 750 ml bottles at $20 or $34 respectively. A 375 ml bottle is the perfect size to share with a couple of other people.
As I've stated throughout this week, Brutocao Cellars is making well balanced, food friendly wines. This is definitely a producer whose wines I'd urge my readers to seek out.
Coming up this week: Releases from Edna Valley Vineyards as well as Mollydooker.
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