2017 Day Wines ''A Peridot Afternoon'' Yamhill Carlton, Oregon, USA

ABOUT THIS WINE

In 2017, owner and winemaker Brianne Day was pregnant and wanted to make a wine that would age so well, her son could drink it 21 years later. Needing something with more tannin and body than Pinot Noir, she started the journey of making this wine to be one of patience and steadiness – much like pregnancy itself. 90% Syrah and 10% Viognier, using 25% whole clusters of Syrah. Native fermentation and foot treading (which she did while wearing her newborn son in an Ergobaby), aged in mostly neutral French oak for 30 months.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

In 2006 Brianne Day sold everything she owned and began traveling through wine regions all over the world. Over the following eight years she visited around 80 different regions, working at wineries in Burgundy, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand. During this time, she re-established her home base in Oregon and worked at a number of wineries including The Eyrie Vineyards and Brooks.

In 2012 Brianne started her own winery with some Pinot Noir grapes from the 15-acre, dry-farmed Crowley Station Vineyard in the Eola Amity Hills. The inaugural vintage was only 125 cases and sold out quickly. On the strength of that single bottling she was invited to the RAW fair in London and was one of only seven American wineries mentioned in Isabelle Legeron’s recent book, Natural Wine, alongside Edmunds St. John and Arnot Roberts.

Since then, Brianne has grown production to a level of around 5000cs/year and continues to experiment with under-appreciated varieties such as Malvasia, Tannat, and even Aligote while honing her Pinot Noir skills.

Brianne's general winemaking is as follows: native yeast fermentations, low additions of sulfur, minimal punch downs, rare pump overs, and only tiny amounts of new oak.