The month of October was so fleeting and hectic for me, on so many levels that I almost forgot to pick up the club selections from the Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  They were quite busy in the shop, so I had little chance to discuss much with them.   It was one of those times, when I just picked up the selections and took off, which is so unlike me.

The first wine that I will mention is from Vignobles Laurent Mazeau-Bergstrom Chateau de Costis Bordeaux 2016.  The original estate was bought in 1928 by Charles Mallet, the great-grandfather of Laurent Mazeau.  In 1985, the grandson of Charles Mallet decided to retire and he left the estate to his four sons, and the four sons decided to administer their own heritage and that is how Vignobles Laurent Mazeau-Bergstrom originated.  The new estate began with forty-eight hectares and is now over one-hundred hectares, with three different elevations and a mix of several minerals and gravels to impart terroir.  The estate is located in the center of the Entre-deux-Mers sub region of Bordeaux, but that appellation is only for the white wines that are grown there, the reds are listed as Bordeaux.  This wine is a blend of forty percent Merlot, thirty-five percent Cabernet Franc and twenty-five percent Cabernet Sauvignon.  The tasting notes promise a wine with a deep, shiny red color, the nose has powerful fruit and a good amount of tannin for the finish, and it is described as a very well-balanced wine, which to me would say that it will be good with food or just by itself.   

The second bottle is Broadway Vineyards Merlot Carneros 2013. Broadway Vineyards feel that they embody the essence of the Sonoma lifestyle.  In 2002 Jim and Marilyn Hybiske found property just two miles from the Historic Square in downtown Sonoma.  Six of their friends joined them to develop a small vineyard focusing on Chardonnay, Merlot and Syrah.  Work began on the vineyard in 2004 and the first harvest was in 2006.  The results each year got better and better and the wine started being appreciated by others than the original investors and they started to take off.  Since the estate is small, there is only a finite amount of wine that can be produced.  The winemaker for Broadway Vineyards is Philippe Langner who began his career at Chateau Clarke, a Rothschild property in Bordeaux, France.  The three different varietals were chosen very carefully to be planted on the estate from day one to take advantage of the soil and the cool nights and warm days and the area was perfect for the three cool-climate varietals.  This wine was aged for twenty-two months in a mix of new and used French Oak and less than two-hundred-fifty cases were produced.  The tasting notes promise black cherry, blueberry, toast and vanilla flavors, getting more complex as the wine opens in the glass.  It looks like two easy drinking wines that will be a pleasure to serve to company or just the two of us.