Brutocao Cellars Philo Tasting Room

Wonderful service. The primitivo is one of the best wines ever. Definitely one of the best primitivos I have had, I am especially interested in and particular about primitivos. Fantastic. They also had organic pistachios in a variety of seasonings, the spicy garlic are very tasty. Definitely visit, and have a glass of primitivo for sure.

Very nice selection of wines. Enjoyed it, bought a bottle of 2014 Bliss that had very nice, soft a sweet tones.
It pairs very well with a spicy cheese abs cracker, olive plate. It did not disappoint.

I will always remember this place for many silly reasons:
1) I had to go pee badly.
2) I was wine wasted from our previous wine stop.
3) Got a bottle of Port.
4) Got some chocolate spread for Mommio.
5) I had to go pee again and again uh uh uh!
Brutocao Cellars was a spontaneous stop that we made along our way to Mendocino. It is not hard to spot because it is write along the road and you can just pull over for a tasting.
The staff was welcoming and very knowledgeable. I hope you give this tasting room a try. Cheers!

Unfortunately, this was a disappointing tasting experience. They have a lot of interesting wines and some that we were really excited to try but they were all made lesser by the poor service. Will not return and sadly at this time cannot recommend.

Id give a better rating for the chocolate and wines/​port, however we were really not impressed with the service. There was one couple tasting when we walked in, the woman working looked up at us but didnt smile or welcome us, just went back to the other couple. We stood and waited for a couple minutes until the others finished up, then she made our way over. She stuck with us but it sempt like she was just going through the motions. Then as soon as another, older couple, came in, we were left again. She didnt seem interested in serving us because we were young and unlikely to make a big purchase. I expect a pourer to be engaging and share knowledge and passion for their wines, and she lacked that.
Apart from that, the wine was good, not great. And the Port was good, but not the best ive ever had. They did have a very tasty liquid chocolate paired with the port that was delicious though.
No tasting fee

Had a great tasting on ¹⁰⁄₁₈ hosted by Vydell and Patty. They were excellent hostess’ for our group of 5.
Tasted the entire family of wines. 2010 Coro and the 2009 Reserve Zins were my personal faves. Lots of good stuff here, nothing tremendous, with prices that are very moderate. A very nice place.

Change of pace wines in AV. Lots of Sangiovese blends, dolcetto and barbera. We always like stopping here and bringing a few bottles with us. Staff lets you go at your pace — Susie was really helpful and knowledgeable. They have a lot of wines open so you can get to do a lot of comparing. Don’t miss this place!

Great winery and wines! Chris was so friendly and knowledgeable about the wines. I absolutely LOVED the Barbera and the Dolcetto. As someone who loves deep reds (especially in the colder months) I really enjoyed trying some lighter reds that were right up my palette! The Dolcetto is on the semi-​sweet side with a cola body to it. Absolutely deVINE ;) Definitely recommend this place!

This review has been a long time coming.
My boyfriend and I traveled to Anderson Valley to visit navarro red woods, hit up AVB and go to a few wineries for our first time.
I will have to admit, I know nothing about wine — but we really wanted to learn about it. On our first day of our trip, we stopped at another winery down the street whose staff turned their noses up to us when we excitedly asked questions about their products. The woman giving us our tastings down the street was unwelcoming and did not seem compassionate about her products.
The next day, I wasn’t up for giving another winery a shot given the horrible experience we had the day before. However, we were lured by Brutocao’s port and chocolate tasting banner.
I must say, we had an incredible experience. «Pinot Patty» was a fantastic host. She was delighted to share her enthusiasm about the products she poured and her love for the area. We felt incredibly welcomed and appreciated for our business and left with a few bottles of wine, a port and a delicious chocolate.
A note to other wineries out there, just because folks are new to wine, doesn’t mean you should spend less time conversing with them. The more you teach us about the industry, the more eager we are to invest in your product!

Broooooot O Sow… Tis what the sign says! But everybody calls them BRUTE A KO.
Oh my, what a find during Open House day of AV… capping off their annual Pinot weekend.
Get this– true story… we went to buy some ice in Philo’s market store. The dude who helped us unlock and give the ice bags was the husband of tasting room manager here:)!! He informed us all about the free tasting/​music/​food fest, and we made sure to be in Anderson Valley.
Very nice people, no snob, no pressure. Tried their Double gold 2010 Pinot, and a less full in the mouth, less bright Pinot of 2009. Rose was great and so was their port and merlot brandy, named Mistelle.
Walked out full after some pulled pork, fresh fruit salad, chocolate port sauce over brownies and strawberries.
And toting a bottle of Merlot, a skinny, dessert Mistelle and some light, easy to drink whites. Family-​style, easy living, casual and fun.

The only way I can remember the name of this place is to say ‘Bruise the cow’. It’s a fun little name and some seriously tasty wines.
I don’t recall the name of our winetender, but it was something vivacious. I think all the people in this area have fun names just to keep the entertainment value alive.
We’d been told to come here for the ports. so we were SUPER excited to try them.
A $ 5 tasting fee was charged for each of us and we left with a 2011 Sav Blanc that was on sale for only $ 14. Also a Merlot Mistelle which was a delicious dessert wine in a gorgeous bottle.
Then she whips out the Jalapeño Chocolate bar on us and wow, that was fantastic and kept my tastebuds tingling for a moment. had to grab one of those on the way out too.
Very nice winery. great selection of wines and at very good price points.

My husband and I were drawn to their port + chocolate sign outside their tasting room, as we have started to drink more port. And, who doesn’t love a chocolate pairing?
My husband and I ultimately tried five different wines and their two dessert wines. Their wines were all very unique. We got the 2009 Pinot Noir Anderson Valley, which we couldn’t resist, and the Merlot dessert wine with Grand Marnier chocolate. What an awesome combination.
Noteably, we got the most wines at this vineyard than any other. We are really glad they had that big sign outside!

ANOTHER AMAZING WINERY WE HAD TO JOIN! haha I think we’re addicted!
We highly recommend the ’09 Chardonnay, Bliss Vineyard (good for a white, lol), ’07 Reserve Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, ’09 Sangiovese Feliz Vineyard, ’08 Primitivo, Contento Vineyard, and ’07 Syrah Dry Creek Valley Cellar Select.
PS the ’06 Cab Reserve was stupid drinkable. haha Give it a try!
OH AND the grapeseed scrub… sooo wonderful.

Very, very friendly. Good tasting experience. We learned a lot. Large selection of wines available for tasting. Keri, who is the wine afficianado, was a tad disappointed in the two ports, but liked most everything else. Reserve Chardonney was excellent, we both enjoyed a Bliss Rose, and she expecially liked their Coro Mendocino offering.

This was the first winery that we visited during our recent wine tasting adventure through the Anderson Valley.
We were greeted warmly by the woman pouring who briefly explained our tasting choices. There is no tasting fee and they have like 50 wines available for tasting. Okay, I may be slightly exaggerating. We decided to split up the options to limit the amount of wine we were drinking and so we could actually visit some other places.
It was here that I learned that some of the 2008 pinots from the valley taste like BBQ because there were forest fires that year. Mmm, smoky.
The ports with honey and chocolate pairings were delightful.
They have a nice hand scrub in the bathroom.
As we were leaving with our purchased bottles, we were offered tokens for half off drinks at the MacCallum House Restaurant in Mendocino. (
) How did they know that is where we just so happened to have dinner reservations? Weird and awesome.

What a fun place with all sorts of really gourmet stuff right along with a great list of wines. Actually the Zinfandel Port and Tawny Port got my attention and my dollars. Paired with blue cheese and honey, it was like drinking a bit of the sky. Very enthusiastic people who clearly loved their jobs and their wine. Not pushy, but informative and chatty. The other visitors got caught up in the mood and as others have written, the place is a great place for impromptu meeting other drinkers from along the valley. THIS IS A MUST STOP PLACE in the Anderson Valley.
Please comment below on what you think about this review. Write me a message, if you wish.

Wine: 4 Stars
Service: 5 Stars
Tasting Room: 3 Stars
Stopped at Brutocao on way from Goldeneye to Mendocino — what a lucky stop it was. The winery sits just off 128, and is very scenic sitting in the vineyard area. Building has a rustic, yet well-​decorated feel to it. Nice standing tasting bar area, with some retail (e.g., chocolate grand marnier sauce — yummo, bought 2), and restroom areas.
Very drinkable wines — we ended up picking up the Primitivo, Zin, and Bliss School House Red blend, and a port. All nice price points (under $ 20) for everyday wines. Wine Educator was wonderful — she was very informative & as we showed a bit more interest, we kept getting more tidbits of information — not to overwhelm a «glugger» with info s/​he really doesn’t want to know if they are just there to glug — but to explain the wine & the vineyard & the winery to people who actually drink & enjoy wine.
Joined the St Mark’s Lion Club — you get a 3 L (that’s a Jeraboam to you) of 2007 Pinot Noir for $ 50 with free shipping back to home. A great Thanksgiving dinner wine. And, by Thanksgiving, it might be cool enough to ship to Texas again. .. .

Brutocao, how do you like me now?
I was beyond drunk at this point and my friend insisted that we stop here for port and chocolate pairings.
Fine, I said.
30 minutes passed, I came out with not one, not two, but THREE bottles of the following:
— 2007 Sangiovese Rose
— 2006 Pinot Noir
— 2006 Zin
WTF. . a Rose, I know. I must have been totally shit-​faced (and I was). So there you go.
The winery was so-​so, I didn’t care for the experience, wished we kept driving.

A little bottle of port found its way into our hands on the way out of Brutocao. I just had fun saying the name… Brutocao…kind of like… wildcat…“pow!”.
It opens up early, and was a great start for us on our wineaux adventure. I like to get the most out of my drinking days… Located right off Highway 128, the locale opens itself up to many gorgeous landscape and vineyard photos. Visiting at the time we did, the panoramic views were amazing. I just don’t get out often enough to immerse myself in vineyards and barrels, such a pity.
They offer a variety of complimentary tastings, which is always appreciated. They had a buttery chardonnay, a Gewurzt that started my day the sweet way and as I mentioned, a zin port that we had to take home. I had a late harvest viognier in the fridge, we needed something deep, dark and delicous to then add as a contrast. At least, that was my excuse – as well as the need to buy chocolate to pair with it!
I am always on the search to taste a good Pinot, and Brutocao delivered. As Joe mentioned, nothing that transported me to another world, but it did put Anderson Valley in a good light for me on my quest for the holy grail of pinots.

We figured the best way to start our scorched-​earth (scorched-​vine?) leave-​no-​stone-​unturned (no turn unstoned? No, that’s another Mendocino experience. ;-)) tour of Mendocino was to get to one of the wineries that opened at 10 and start just a little bit after that. We were on a search for a p. noir that would leave us convinced that the Anderson Valley was truly heaven on earth for Pinot.
We didn’t find that at Brutocao, and it wasn’t even our first stop, but I figure in the middle is as good a place to start my reviews as any. Not to say that the wines weren’t superb — they were — there just wasn’t anything transcendent there. The grounds are beautiful, and any time spent in the Anderson Valley will leave you wanting to stay longer. Leave space on the camera — this is truly a beautiful area.
Nothing truly stood out, except for the Zin Port, but I enjoyed the Quadriga and brought home a bottle of the Zin port. We only have white dessert wines, and only one of those at home, and a nice port and chocolate pairing should do the trick on some cold night this winter.