DAY WINES: THE COMPLETE FAQ FOR OREGON WINE LOVERS
- Damien Casten
- 3 days ago
- 10 min read
Your definitive guide to Brianne Day's innovative Oregon wines, sourced from our videos, interviews, and experiences with Brianne as Day Wines' distributor in IL since 2013.
Who is Brianne Day and what makes Day Wines unique?
Brianne Day is one of Oregon's most innovative winemakers, creating an extraordinary 25 grape varieties from 32 vineyards across Oregon. What started as a 125-case operation in 2012 has grown to close to 20,000 cases annually – representing nearly 16,000% growth in 10 years!
Her approach is distinctive: while most Oregon producers focus on Pinot Noir, Brianne embraces Oregon's incredible diversity. As she explains: "If you have a piece of music and you have one instrument, a piano solo could be compared to a Pinot Noir in terms of expressing that specific music. But making wine from a lot of different varieties of grapes is like having a whole orchestra playing. It's showing a different side of a place."
"I feel like I am at like the roulette table every year and I'm putting all my chips on the harvest," she notes, explaining her approach to trying new varietals. "The only way you can find out what things are is to make it and try."
"My focus has always been to make wines that are expressive of a place and a vintage. I'm really trying to make my wine representative – a time capsule of a specific time and place."
Which Day Wines should I try first?
For classic Oregon lovers: Deep Blue Pinot Noir showcases Brianne's blending mastery, using seven biodynamic vineyards chosen for "deeper, blue and black fruit attributes" and "lush and silky textures." The wine demonstrates sophisticated blending where "Johan Vineyard contributes red fruit, incense, black pepper spice" while "Momtazi Vineyard adds dark fruit, violet, floral aromatics."
For everyday enjoyment: Vin de Days Rouge – the "flagship red made to please a crowd" using Beaujolais-inspired techniques adapted for Oregon with innovative split-aging protocol.
For adventurous drinkers: Infinite Air Castles combines Gamay and Dolcetto – "both of those wines to me have similar personalities... dolcetto being the underdog kid sister to nebbiolo and gamay having the same function in Burgundy to Pinot Noir... both very joyful and fun and just yummy."
For white wine enthusiasts: Vin de Days Blanc demonstrates sequential harvest blending with typical composition of "Pinot Blanc (27%), Müller-Thurgau (22%), Riesling (19%), Pinot Gris (16%), Muscat (16%)" though percentages vary by vintage. One Chicago buyer called Vin de Days Blanc his "go to wine for a big crowd at Thanksgiving," adding "It has something for everyone in a big crowd and pairs with a wide range of dishes". We agree, but you certainly don't need to wait until November!
For wine geeks: Dazzles of Light earned 93 points from Decanter with "rich, tangy citrus aromatics with Meyer lemon pulp, clover honey and chalky minerality." Her 100% Pinot Meunier "100 Years a Lady" is a perfect still red wine to serve to friends who love Champagne, where we see the grape as a sparkling wine.
How does Day Wines approach natural winemaking?
Brianne's approach to natural wine and natural winemaking goes far beyond any one decision. She prioritizes fruit from farmers she knows and trusts, a majority of whom are women, and all of whom are focused on long-term sustainability. Brianne takes a thoughtful approach focused on three core goals, aiming to make wine that:
"Expresses the site clearly"
"Is healthy for the grower and the consumer"
"Interacts with our world in a way that has the least negative impact as possible"
Technical methods:
Wild native yeast fermentations only
No additives except minimal SO2 after malolactic conversion
Whole cluster fermentation for aromatics that "don't exist elsewhere in the grape"
Co-fermentation approach – multiple varieties fermented together since 2014
Sustainable sourcing exclusively from biodynamic, organic, and sustainable Oregon growers
Philosophy: "Wine politics are less important to me than knowing what I am doing meets my personal goals of making a site-specific wine that is healthy for those who come in contact with it and for the planet."
What's the story behind Day Wines' Lemonade?
There are no lemons in Brianne's Lemonade. Lemonade is a rosé of Pinot Noir, but ask about the name and you'll discover one of the most remarkable stories of resilience in American wine.
September 2020. COVID had the country locked down. George Floyd's murder had shaken us all. Then Mother Nature dealt her own blow: lightning strikes and downed power lines ignited over a million acres across Oregon, turning wine country into what Brianne called "the apocalypse."
She was driving to vineyards, swerving around burning trees that blocked roads to check on growers who'd become like family. But her worst fears weren't for the vineyards or even the winery she'd spent eight years building. As a young mother, she was terrified for her son Viggo's lungs. Would the smoke seeping through their masks cause more damage than the virus we were all fighting?
In that moment of crisis, with hundreds of tons of smoke-affected Pinot Noir that couldn't be used for premium wines, most producers would have walked away. Insurance might have covered the loss. The fruit was unsellable by conventional standards.
Brianne found a silver lining. She created Lemonade - literally making lemonade from the worst of circumstances. She offered her grower partners a lifeline, purchasing fruit others had abandoned, and through careful winemaking turned catastrophe into opportunity.
The name says everything about Brianne's character. When life hands you smoke-damaged grapes in the middle of a pandemic, you make something beautiful anyway.
Where does Day Wines source grapes and why?
Strategic two-region approach:
Willamette Valley: Classic expressions and cooler-climate varietals
Southern Oregon/Applegate Valley: 30-40% of production for heat-loving varietals and experimental blends
Current partnerships: 32 vineyards chosen for "quality and market success" rather than random experimentation. Key partners include seven biodynamic vineyards for Deep Blue Pinot Noir, next to single vineyard expressions from with Johan Vineyard, Momtazi Vineyard, Belle Pente and more.
Southern Oregon from the start:
Brianne has been purchasing from Herb Quady since 2013, working with "a slew of oddball varieties that range from Vermentino and Malvasia Bianca to Tannat." Her attraction: "I don't know that the region's figured itself out yet, and that's part of the attraction to me. The Willamette has solved all of its mysteries. And I like unsolved things."
First Italian grape varieties in Oregon: Day Wines is pioneering "the first Zibibbo in Oregon" and "the first Nerello Mascalese" planted in Southern Oregon. "I'm very curious about Italian grape varieties in Oregon."
Vermentino success: "Vermentino does really really well in Southern Oregon. It has a lot of the characteristics that remind me of Liguria, which are my favorite Vermentinos in the world – the salty characteristics and the more minerality."
What Grape Varieties does Brianne Day work with in Oregon?
Here is the most complete Grape Variety List for Day Wines available in one place. Beware that this list is almost certainly out of date even before we hit publish. Brianne is constantly learning, trying and exploring what is possible. As of this writing:
Classic Oregon Varieties:
Pinot Noir (primary variety, multiple vineyards)
Chardonnay (Bellefonte, Eola Springs)
Pinot Gris (multiple uses, including blends)
Pinot Blanc (Vin de Days Blanc component)
Riesling (Vin de Days Blanc, orange wines)
Alsatian/Germanic Varieties:
Gewürztraminer (orange wines, Vin de Days L'Orange)
Müller-Thurgau (Vin de Days Blanc, sequential harvest)
Muscat (Vin de Days Blanc, Tears of Vulcan)
French Varieties:
Pinot Meunier (100 Years a Lady, Vin de Days Rouge)
Gamay (standalone wine, Infinite Air Castles blend)
Viognier (Tears of Vulcan, skin contact)
Chenin Blanc (mentioned as available in Northwest)
Sauvignon Blanc (Dazzles of Light component)
Melon de Bourgogne (Dazzles of Light 2023)
Rhône Varieties:
Syrah (Hawk Deuce rosé and red)
Grenache Blanc (Applegate Valley)
Roussanne (Applegate Valley)
Bordeaux Varieties:
Cabernet Franc (Running Bear blend, Applegate)
Malbec (Running Bear blend, mentioned as Côt)
Cabernet Sauvignon (Layne Vineyard, grafted over)
Merlot (Lauyne Vineyard, grafted over)
Southwestern France:
Tannat (TNT, Running Bear, Applegate Valley focus)
Italian Varieties:
Dolcetto (Infinite Air Castles blend)
Vermentino (Southern Oregon,)
Malvasia Bianca (Mamacita pet-nat, Applegate)
Zibibbo (first in Oregon, Southern Oregon)
Varieties She's Mentioned as maybe coming soon:
Nerello Mascalese (going in ground, Applegate Valley)
Nebbiolo
More to come, without question... Oregon is amazing.
What awards and recognition has Day Wines received?
Critical acclaim consistently:
Johan Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022: 93 Points Decanter
Deep Blue Pinot Noir 2021: 93 Points Wine Enthusiast
Dazzles of Light 2023: 93 Points Decanter
Belle Pente Chardonnay 2019: 94 Points Wine Enthusiast, Editors' Choice
Industry recognition:
2017 Wine Enthusiast 40 Under 40 Tastemaker
2020 James Beard Award Semi-finalist (Outstanding Wine, Beer or Spirits Producer)
Willamette Week observed: "No other local winemaker can translate a penchant for wild experimentation into such approachable wines."
What makes Day Wines different from other Oregon producers?
Brianne Day is one of a kind. She is a celebrated winemaker known for her ability to create unique blends and stunning single-vineyard wines. She is an thriving entrepreneur who has built a business from scratch and supported her community on the way up. She is a passionate advocate for the environment, for social equality, and for the incredible diversity that Oregon vineyards have to offer.
At last count, Brianne has worked with 25 grape varieties versus most Oregon producers' focus Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and maybe Pinot Gris.
"I don't have strict regulatory systems like they do in Europe telling me what I can and can't make. I'm a wild card with the freedom to satisfy my curiosity."
An early adopter of co-fermentation techniques, split-aging protocols, and sequential harvest blending that creates complexity naturally rather than through additives, Brianne strives to find process-based solutions to winemaking puzzles others might address with chemicals. Her eight years of traveling through 80+ wine regions brings international techniques to Oregon terroir, creating wines that are distinctly Oregon yet globally informed.
How has Day Wines grown so dramatically?
As of 2025, Brianne produces "close to 20,000 cases of wine" from "30 vineyards around Oregon, everywhere from the Columbia River Gorge to the Willamette Valley down to Southern Oregon." Production has "probably doubled since 2020."
Day Camp now focuses entirely on Day Wines production, with only assistant winemakers creating small projects in the facility. "With the growth of the brand, it became necessary to stop renting out space to smaller producers."
Key factors:
Brianne's wines are consistently excellent across myriad varieties and regions.
Market differentiation through diversity and natural methods
Strategic distribution in major markets
An inability to say no to interesting grapes presented to her by impeccable growers.
Team expansion supporting increased production
She persists. Through Covid, Wildfires, and all that comes with being an entrepreneur as a single mom, she not only survives, she thrives.
Where can I buy Day Wines in Chicago?
Day Wines established early Chicago distribution with Candid in 2013, making the city Brianne's first market outside Oregon. Her wines are well represented at restaurants and retailers, small and large, around the city and state.
Independent retailers like Bottles Up! and 57th Street Wines join larger groups in supporting Brianne. Many of her wines are on the shelf at Binny's Beverage Depot.
What's Brianne Day's background and how did she get into wine?
Raised Jehovah's Witness where "college was something I was discouraged from strongly" and "the world was not completely open to me." At 19, during a religious mission to Italy, she discovered wine culture in a Lake Como wine shop, learning that "each village had 'their' wine–the thing that they made and that they defined themselves by."
The experience lit a fire in Brianne, and she spent eight years traveling through 80+ wine regions, including crucial experiences in all aspects of the trade at wineries like Brooks Winery, The Eyrie Vineyards, Grochau Cellars, and Domaine Huber Verdereau in Volnay, Burgundy. From her first explorations of the beaten path wines in New Zealand, she noticed something different about them:
Wineries that were growing grapes organically or biodynamically and that were using native yeasts were the wines that spoke to me... that would give me like a visceral experience with them...Your nervous system is acknowledging something about them that fires it up both through smelling and through tasting the wine... feelings in my scalp ... where you're actually feel like you're physically feeling something".
How does Brianne Day approach food and wine pairing?
Brianne has a creative way to think about tasting and pairing wine and food. She tells the story of teaching a chef-turned-winery intern to use her culinary skills to think about wine. . Brianne's wine education through food analogies:
Tannin = Egg in cooking – provides binding and structure
Alcohol = Fat in food – creates body and mouthfeel
Wine components = Food structure – breaking apart elements for understanding
Watch more in this video we filmed at Red and White in Chicago way back in 2014:
To this day, Brianne thinks about how her wines will work with food whether blending barrels of single-vineyard Pinot Noir, or making multi-varietal cuvves. Each wine is "designed" with food in mind, from Gamay as "party in a glass" for casual dining to Deep Blue's structured tannins for more refined cuisine.
What's next for Day Wines?
As production now exceeds 15,000+ cases annually, Day Wines now fills Day Camp facility entirely. Where an investor or a banker might look for a strategic plan behind each new wine and every step on her path, more often than not, Brianne is guided by her fascination with what might be possible in Oregon. Lambrusco style red? Check. Italian blends for pizza? Check. At every turn, her curiosity pushes her in new directions.
Will Brianne ever buy a vineyard? "If I was ever to own a vineyard, I would be priced out of Willamette. I would look to buy in either Applegate or the Gorge." We'll see what happens.
Never one to sit still, Brianne has more recently returned to Italy where it all started for her in that cave in Como. She's workign with friends in Piedmont and has a project on the horixaon. When it happens, Candid Wines will proudly support her efforts. Stay tuned!
How can I stay updated on Day Wines?
Follow us on Instagram - whenever we have winemakers in town or new arrivals, that's the first place you'll hear about it.
Follow Brianne and Day Wines on Instagram.
Contact Candid Wines at info@candidwines.com for current stock in Illinois, allocation opportunities for limited-production wines and new release notifications when special bottlings arrive.
Contact Candid Wines at info@candidwines.com to explore Day Wines and discover the exceptional community of Pacific Northwest producers redefining American winemaking.
