In Vino Veritas III.

Stewart racking the merlot/cabernet into a temporary bucket. 

Two months in and the wine is coming along nicely. The pinot gris, which we picked out at McMennamins Edgefield back in October (In Vino Veritas I.) is done fermenting, but it's still pretty cloudy and looks more like pulpy grapefruit juice than a light golden wine. No worries, as that's normal for this stage in the process. We tasted it — it's fruity like a pinot gris should be, with pears and apples, an effervescent mouth feel, and a little lingering yeast up front — racked it, and then added a bentonite slurry that will help in clarifying.

The reds we have going are a 50-50 cabernet/merlot blend and another blend that's roughly 90-10 in favor of merlot. Both come from juices Stewart collected at Edgefield during their winemaking and which otherwise would have gone down the drain. The 90-10, Merlot no. 1, was still bubbling just a bit and was still cloudy and almost chalky. Its nose was yeasty and a bit eggy, which Stewart says could mean that it's lacking oxygen. The flavor was better than the nose, not too sweet though there was a metallic hint near the end. Again, it could be oxygen. So we racked it and will check it again in a month when we rack the pinot again.

Merlot no. 2 is all done fermenting and has a big, fruity nose — think overripe blackberries — but a flavor that's more earthy than sweet. And the finish is nice and long, complex even, with a nice touch of tannin. We racked it as well and will tend to it again next month.

So far, so good.