I may end up claiming the entire month for my birthday, as I am having so much fun and I had to stop at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia to get the selections.  I am sure that I tend at times to sound like a broken record, but it is a great place for me to spend some time tasting and talking about wines, not to mention buying some wine.  Of course, they are always looking for my better half, and who can blame them?  They survived the last year, when so many businesses were driven to ruin by the draconian mandates of our local satrap.  I and all of their patrons are pleased that they did.  The owner selects two wines each month for his club members, one Old-World and one New-World and by belonging to the club, one gets case pricing, each time one buys wines, whether by the bottle or by the case.

The Old-World selection was Chateau Toutigeac Rouge Bordeaux 2019.  After studying genealogical charts by Rene Mazeau, the Mazeau family has an uninterrupted history of being winemakers since the Fifteenth Century.  Charles Mallet, a wine merchant in Paris and Castillon la Bataille, purchased the estate in 1928.  His great, great grand-daughter, Oriane Mazeau, has continued the tradition as the fifth generation to make wines at Chateau Toutigeac.  The estate which is thirty-five hectares is located in Entre-Deux-Mers on silica clay, with vines from three to fifty years of age.   The wine is fifty percent Merlot, thirty-five percent Cabernet Franc and fifteen percent Cabernet Sauvignon.  The entire harvest is completed in one week and the initial fermentation is for fifteen to eighteen days in Stainless Steel, and then it is transferred to subterranean, glassed vats for twelve months.  According to the notes the wine is a deep red with a nose of red fruits (currants and plums), which continue on the palate with soft tannins and a finish of more soft fruits.

The New-World selection is Lone Birch Red Blend Yakima Valley 2018 in Washington State.  The family has been farming in the Yakima Valley for over four generations and has eight-hundred-thirty acres.  The landmark of the estate is the seventy-year-old Lone Birch that resides in the vineyard that was planted by the great-great-grandfather who was the initial steward of the land for the family.  They have continued the concept of being an environmental steward and they also maintain sustainable practices for the vineyards and the winery.  The wine is a blend of forty-five percent Merlot, thirty percent Syrah and twenty-five percent Cabernet Sauvignon.  The harvesting was finished by hand by block, and each block was cold soaked for forty-eight hours and then inoculated with yeast strains.  The wine was then aged for eleven months in French Oak, of which twenty percent was new and forty percent was neutral.  The wine is described as having a nose of dark currants, blackberry, cola and sweet plums with a palate offering some fruit forward notes along with sandalwood, espresso, malt-chocolate and smoked spices (from the mix of barrels), with balance acidity and a medium finish.  September just keeps making me happy, and I am so bad.