February special: We are featuring Day Wines ‘Vin de Days Blanc’ by the glass all month, and we hope you will join us at our dinner with Brianne on Monday, February 10th!

We are so thrilled to have Brianne Day of Day Wines kick off this year’s winemaker dinner series! Brianne has been making headlines with her experimental wines within the past decade, and it’s for good reason. Her approach to natural winemaking has resulted in some of the most unique expressions of Oregon grapes that are truly emblematic of the next chapter in Oregon’s wine legacy.

Here, Brianne shares how she’s approached the business from all angles, her winemaking philosophy, and how moving to Willamette Valley led to love at first sight.

Arden: When and how did you get into wine?

Brianne Day: I moved to this area with my folks when I was about 16. I was aware of the agriculture and winemaking here, and thought it was really glamorous. I was reading a lot of Hemingway and Steinbeck -authors that spent a lot of time eating and drinking. I was surprised that that existed in America.

I used to take drives out into the Valley just to go out to the vineyards and check things out. My folks are not in wine at all, and so I didn’t really consider that being an option for me, because I thought it was a family thing that got passed down.

When I was 19, I went abroad for what was supposed to be a spiritual mission. Literally within 20 minutes of doing what I was supposed to be doing [in Italy], I was distracted by food and art and culture and wine and guys. I tasted real wine for the first time. I was really blown away by it, and especially by the cultural aspect of it. The old guy that owned a shop would tell me how those grapes only grew in that specific village, and how they only make that wine in that place. The idea of wine being a channel for cultural expression really hit me hard. It was so different from anything we’d had in the Applebee’s and Red Lobster kind of community I grew up in – suburban America. For these people, that’s a part of their home.

When I was in my early 20s, my ex-husband and I traveled for 20 months straight and decided to go to wine-producing regions to see why I had this attraction to the industry. We went to New Zealand and Australia, western and eastern Europe. We were tasting wine along the way, documenting it, and speaking with somms and winemakers.

I noticed that throughout New Zealand and Australia and other areas in Europe, there were common phrases being used like biodynamic viticulture, organic, and native fermentation. By the time I got to France, I was pretty clued into meeting people who were making wines that way. It was very early on in the natural wine movement, 2007, and I was able to meet up with some of the original people that were forming that movement. And so I came up at the beginning of 2008, wanting to be a winemaker in a very specific way. I started wine classes in 2008 and was so eager to actually work and do what I was learning about. I did my first harvest in New Zealand that year, then started doing two harvests a year: Oregon and somewhere else, like Argentina, France or New Zealand.

Arden: How would you describe the style of Day Wines?

BD: 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. 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. Pinot is an extremely expressive variety and I’m glad it’s kind of Oregon’s flagship grape. I think it’s an ambitious grape to be your flagship grape, but Oregon's a big place and it doesn’t necessarily do well all over. It’s interesting to find other grapes that express that place that are not Pinot.

I approach my wines from a classic standpoint, like making a classic Oregon Chardonnay or Oregon Pinot Noir. Then I have a bunch of other wines that I approach from a creative mindset. They’re a creative expression for me. I painted a lot as a teenager, and when I make those wines, it feels similar to how it felt when I used to paint. It’s an outpouring of creativity.

Arden: How did your winemaking cooperative Day Camp form?

BD: When I envisioned my winery, I always envisioned it being a place about more than just one brand. I think it’s more interesting for people to have a community feel to it. I like the idea of community building through shared resources, especially since it’s very difficult to be a small producer in a new business and to have all that equipment yourself. It’s virtually impossible. I think organically the kind of people that have wanted to make their wine in the building have similar winemaking philosophies to me, and that's just like attracts like.

Arden: You’ve approached the wine business from so many different angles, from working with different producers to retail to a server. Was the goal to always become a winemaker?

BD: [Winemaking was] always the goal. I always knew I wanted to have my own brand and to make my own wine. I sold barrels, and I worked in distribution, and I managed a tasting room. I did as many things as possible in the industry. I think the more perspective you have, the better business person you’re going to be, and the better winemaker you’re going to be. Some winemakers probably have more technical skills than I do, but they don’t know how to market, they don’t know how to sell, they don’t know how to have a business that operates, really.

Arden: Did any of the positions within the wine industry surprise you?

BD: All of them, really. I feel like whenever I started an internship at a winery, I’d go into it with an open attitude, feeling like ‘What am I going to take away from this winemaker?’ I didn't know what questions to ask each individual winemaker. I was learning through observation. Many winemakers tend to be introverted and not the most tuned into expressing why they do what they do, or they don't want an intern asking ‘Who motivates you?’ They just want you to work and shut up. I had really clear takeaways from each harvest. Similarly, outside of production, I tried to really have an open attitude of, ‘I’m going to learn something new this year, and I don't know what it is. I’m going to let what happens happen.’ It was always a surprise to learn what that thing happened to be.

Specifically, I worked retail one day a week for five years for Michael Alberty, wine writer for the Oregonian, when he had a wine shop in southwest Portland called Storyteller Wine Company. I met him very early on, right when I got home from traveling. He introduced me to every winemaker that I worked for. He’s like an encyclopedia. I learned about the wine industry from him, which was surprising to me because I thought I’d just be working one day a week at a tasting room. I didn’t realize it was going to be such a learning opportunity.

When I sold barrels, I didn't know I'd learn about wine production by talking. I’d talk to winemakers in Oregon and Washington, and would taste their wines in different kinds of wood and learn why they did what they did. I didn’t realize how much I'd learn about oak, and how that interacts with wine and its place in the industry. It was hugely eye-opening. It seems like every place I worked, there was something [to learn].

Arden: What are your goals and ideals as a winemaker?

BD: I try to be as minimalist in my handling of the wine as possible because I think that results in the most expressive wines. I’m not too extreme in natural winemaking like some people are. I feel that being dogmatic or extreme in your approach to winemaking, even from a natural standpoint, can produce wines that have things about them that distract from the place and the variety, which is really what I'm trying to highlight – a true expression of place. If I don’t use sulphur and the wine gets mousy, that detracts from my goal of highlighting the place. My goal is to always make something extremely expressive.

I’m never going to be a commercial winemaker that’s manipulating things to be a certain style, or to create something that’s consistent year after year, because I don’t want it to be consistent. That’s not what wine is. But I don't want to be so dogmatic in being a minimalist that I make something that's not enjoyable to drink.

Arden: Who are your favorite Oregon winemakers?

BD: There are a lot of good Oregon winemakers. Eyrie is always something to aspire to. They’re kind of the original and have remained untouchable in a way that’s pretty remarkable. It’s a testament to that site and to their farming.

I’m really interested and curious about people that are pushing the limits of what’s classically accepted as winemaking norms. I had an interesting conversation with Nate Reddy from Hiyu that got me inspired, and I like his wines. I’ve always found Maggie Harrison’s wines to be pretty outstanding. I think Julia Cattrall, a co-winemaker at Lumos Wine Co. and Ransom, is one of the most knowledgeable, humble and careful people when it comes to winemaking that I can think of. I think every wine that she has any part of communicate those attributes. I really admire that.

Arden: What’s your favorite wine region in the world?

BD: I’ve only been to Alsace once, but it was outstanding. I want to go back, and I think my son would have a fun time there, too. I’ve spent a lot of time in Liguria in coastal Italy and I love that area. Every winery I've been to is outstanding, but the ones that have really strong cultural ties to what they do are my favorite. New Zealand is wonderful, but their wine production isn’t very dissimilar from Oregon or other new world wines, so it doesn’t feel as exotic. Places like Burgundy, where it’s such a part of the culture, always stand out to me.

Arden: How do you spend your days off?

BD: I don’t have days off. I have a 2-year-old son and I'm a single mom, but when we’re not working, I like to be outside as much as possible. This winter has been jacking with my head because it’s been so wet and so muddy. But when it’s not muddy, I like good hiking and to go to the beach. And travel. I still have this crazy wanderlust.

There are still a few seats available for our winemaker dinner event with special guest Brianne Day on Monday, February 10th. Click here to reserve your spot.

Winemaker Profile: Brianne Day of Day Wines