Brutocao Contento Vineyard Primitivo 2011
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Grandfather Irv Bliss purchased the Mendocino County property in the mid- 1940s. When the family began making wine in 1991, they chose the Lion of St. Mark, modeled after a lion at St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, as their symbol of family tradition and quality.
That quality comes from the location of their 475 acres of vineyards in southern Mendocino County. The Brutocao family tradition of serving wine at the table means wines that are produced with good food and good friends in mind.
Loved for its inky, brambly, fruit-driven wines, the Primitivo grape actually has Croatian origin. Primitivo landed in Italy in the late 1800s and became an important variety in the hot, dry, southern region of Puglia. Here it was named from the Latin word, primativus, meaning "first to ripen." Somm Secret—No one knew Primitivo and Zinfandel were the same until 1994 when DNA profiling at UC Davis finally revealed the link. The grape goes by the name of Tribidrag in Croatia and is a parent to Plavac Mali.
A large and diverse appellation within California’s North Coast AVA, Mendocino is home to several smaller sub-regions—most notably the Anderson Valley. This scenic region, with rolling hills covered in redwood forests as well as vineyards, is one of the world’s top producers of certified organically-grown grapes. Due to wide geographical and climatic variation, a vast array of wine styles can be found here.