An Orchestra of Oregon
Day Wines is one of the most innovative and fast-growing natural wine producers in the United States — a Willamette Valley winery that has exploded from 125 cases in 2012 to nearly 20,000 cases annually, working with 25 grape varieties across 32 vineyards from the Columbia River Gorge to Southern Oregon. [^13^] [^14^] Founded by Brianne Day, a self-taught winemaker who spent eight years travelling through 80 wine regions before settling in Oregon, Day Wines is defined by radical diversity: wild native yeast fermentations, minimal intervention, co-fermentation, and a refusal to accept that Oregon is only Pinot Noir. [^13^] [^20^]
From a Jehovah's Witness Upbringing to 80 Wine Regions
Brianne Day did not grow up in wine. Raised a Jehovah's Witness in suburban America, she was discouraged from attending college and taught that "the world was not completely open to me." [^13^] [^20^] But at 19, during a religious mission to Italy, she wandered into a wine shop on Lake Como and discovered something that would change her life: "Each village had 'their' wine — the thing that they made and that they defined themselves by." [^20^] The idea of wine as a channel for cultural expression hit her hard. It was so different from the Applebee's and Red Lobster world she knew.
In 2006, Brianne sold everything she owned and began travelling through wine regions across the world. [^12^] Over the following eight years, she visited around 80 different regions, working harvests in Burgundy, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand. [^12^] [^20^] She re-established her home base in Oregon and worked at wineries including The Eyrie Vineyards and Brooks, doing two harvests a year — Oregon and somewhere else — while taking wine classes and absorbing everything she could. [^12^] [^20^]
What she noticed along the way was consistent: "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." [^20^] By 2007, she was meeting the original figures of the natural wine movement in France. She returned to Oregon in 2008 determined to make wine in a very specific way — not commercial, not manipulated, but alive and expressive. [^20^]
Brianne launched Day Wines with the 2012 vintage — just 125 cases — and has grown it to nearly 20,000 cases annually, a 16,000% increase in just over a decade. [^13^] She is a 2017 Wine Enthusiast 40 Under 40 Tastemaker and a 2020 James Beard Award Semi-finalist for Outstanding Wine, Beer or Spirits Producer. [^13^] Her Dundee tasting room, Day Camp, is both a cooperative winery for small producers and a public tasting room open daily. [^14^] [^15^]
"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."
— Brianne Day
Wild Yeast, Co-Fermentation & 32 Oregon Vineyards
Brianne Day's winemaking is defined by three core goals: to express the site clearly, to make wine healthy for grower and consumer, and to interact with the world with the least negative impact possible. [^13^] She achieves this through wild native yeast fermentations only, minimal sulphur added only after malolactic conversion, whole cluster fermentation for aromatics that "don't exist elsewhere in the grape," and a co-fermentation approach she pioneered in Oregon — multiple varieties fermented together since 2014. [^13^]
Day Wines sources from 32 vineyards across two distinct regions: the Willamette Valley for classic cool-climate expressions, and Southern Oregon's Applegate Valley for 30–40% of production — heat-loving varietals and experimental blends. [^13^] Brianne has been purchasing from Herb Quady in Southern Oregon since 2013, working with "a slew of oddball varieties that range from Vermentino and Malvasia Bianca to Tannat." [^13^] She is also pioneering the first Zibibbo and first Nerello Mascalese planted in Oregon. [^13^]
The grower partnerships are deliberate and deeply personal. A majority of Brianne's growers are women, and all are focused on long-term sustainability. [^13^] Key partners include Johan Vineyard (certified biodynamic, Van Duzer Corridor), Momtazi Vineyard (prized biodynamic site), Belle Pente, Eola Springs (planted 1972), and Layne Vineyard in the Applegate Valley. [^13^] [^16^] She chooses vineyards for "quality and market success" rather than random experimentation — but her curiosity means the list is constantly evolving. [^13^]
Brianne describes her approach as "instinctive, creative, and site-driven." [^17^] She is not dogmatically natural — she uses minimal sulphur when needed to prevent mousiness, and she is not afraid of process-based solutions to winemaking puzzles. [^20^] But she is resolutely anti-manipulation: no commercial yeasts, no additives for consistency, no attempt to make the same wine every year. "I don't want it to be consistent. That's not what wine is." [^20^]
All Day Wines are fermented with indigenous yeasts — no commercial strains, no lab cultures. [^13^] Brianne believes wild fermentation is essential to terroir expression, creating wines that are "movies of the vineyard and vintage, full blown and alive."
Brianne has been co-fermenting multiple grape varieties together since 2014 — one of the earliest adopters in Oregon. [^13^] This technique creates complexity naturally rather than through additives, layering aromatics and textures that single-variety fermentation cannot achieve.
Willamette Valley for Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and cool-climate varieties. [^13^] Southern Oregon / Applegate Valley for 30–40% of production — Vermentino, Tannat, Malvasia, and experimental Italian varieties. A strategic two-region approach that showcases Oregon's full diversity.
Brianne's vision was always a community space, not just a single brand. [^20^] Day Camp in Dundee is a cooperative winery where small producers share equipment, resources, and philosophy — "like attracts like." [^20^] Now entirely dedicated to Day Wines production as the brand has grown. [^13^]
Lemonade from Wildfire & Smoke
September 2020. COVID had the country locked down. George Floyd's murder had shaken the nation. Then lightning strikes and downed power lines ignited over a million acres across Oregon, turning wine country into what Brianne called "the apocalypse." [^13^] She was driving to vineyards, swerving around burning trees that blocked roads to check on growers who had become like family. As a young single mother, she was terrified for her son Viggo's lungs. Would the smoke seeping through their masks cause more damage than the virus?
Most producers would have walked away from hundreds of tons of smoke-affected Pinot Noir. Insurance might have covered the loss. The fruit was unsellable by conventional standards. But Brianne found a silver lining. She created Lemonade — a rosé of Pinot Noir — literally making lemonade from the worst of circumstances. [^13^] She offered her grower partners a lifeline, purchasing fruit others had abandoned, and through careful winemaking turned catastrophe into opportunity. The wine became a symbol of resilience and one of Day Wines' most popular bottlings.
The Lemonade story encapsulates Brianne's character: creative, resourceful, and unwilling to accept defeat. She has persisted through COVID, wildfires, and all that comes with being an entrepreneur as a single mom — not just surviving, but thriving. [^13^] Production has probably doubled since 2020. [^13^] She has expanded her team, deepened grower relationships, and continued to push the boundaries of what Oregon wine can be.
Brianne's wines are consistently excellent across myriad varieties and regions, earning critical acclaim: Johan Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 (93 Points, Decanter), Deep Blue Pinot Noir 2021 (93 Points, Wine Enthusiast), Dazzles of Light 2023 (93 Points, Decanter), and Belle Pente Chardonnay 2019 (94 Points, Wine Enthusiast, Editors' Choice). [^13^] Willamette Week observed: "No other local winemaker can translate a penchant for wild experimentation into such approachable wines." [^13^]
Deep Blue Pinot Noir — Seven Biodynamic Vineyards, Blue & Black Fruit
"Deep Blue is a blend of seven biodynamic or organically farmed vineyards in the Willamette Valley, chosen for deeper, blue and black fruit attributes and lush, silky textures." [^13^] Johan Vineyard contributes red fruit, incense, and black pepper spice. Momtazi Vineyard adds dark fruit, violet, and floral aromatics. The result is a sophisticated, layered Pinot Noir that demonstrates Brianne's blending mastery — a wine that is both classic Oregon and distinctly Day. 93 Points, Wine Enthusiast. This is the wine for classic Oregon lovers who want to understand what Brianne Day is capable of when she focuses her orchestra on a single instrument. ~$38–$48.
The Day Range
Day Wines produces a wildly diverse portfolio of natural wines from 32 vineyards across Oregon — from the Willamette Valley to the Applegate Valley, the Columbia River Gorge to the Rogue Valley. [^13^] [^16^] All wines are crafted with wild native yeast fermentations, minimal intervention, and fruit from biodynamic, organic, or sustainable growers. [^14^] Most are unfined and unfiltered. [^21^] The range includes classic Oregon expressions (Pinot Noir, Chardonnay) alongside experimental blends, co-fermentations, and varieties rarely seen in the state (Tannat, Vermentino, Mondeuse, Nero d'Avola). [^13^] [^16^] Prices are approximate and in USD.
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Located in Newberg, Oregon, Valley Wine Merchants specializes in small-lot Willamette Valley wines. The shop is highly praised in reviews for its knowledgeable owner, Andrew Turner, who offers a curated selection of both full and half bottles. This makes it an excellent one-stop-shop to find some of the region's best producers, including Day Wines.
Website: https://www.valleywinemerchants.com/
Day Wines Official Website
You can also visit the official website for Day Wines to learn more about their process, their tasting room in Dundee, and their full selection of wines.
Website: https://www.daywines.com/