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Day Wines 2013 Hock & Deuce
Wearing her heart on her sleeve
Hollywood is full of stories of stars getting discovered by producers and directors while waiting tables. But a winemaker? The story of Brianne Day is almost too good to be true.
She was waiting tables part-time at Portland’s Little Bird restaurant, when a customer asked about the wine-grapes tattoo on her forearm. She struck up a conversation about her love of wine — and her dream of building a world-class winery.
You see, Brianne Day fell in love with Oregon’s wine country when she was 16. With a new driver’s license, she drove the hills and valleys and knew she wanted to be part of it. Later, she explored Europe, trading vineyard work for lodging. Finally back home, she worked every angle of the business — in a wine shop, in a restaurant, selling barrels, at a distributor, and at a winery. And in 2012, she started Day Wines, with just 125 cases produced.
But those customers at Little Bird saw her potential along with that tattoo, and offered — on the spot — to invest. Now, she’s up to 2500 cases a year of fantastic wines and she’s opened Day Camp, a collaborative facility for small winemakers in the heart of the Willamette Valley.
It’s a true story. And Brianne Day is just getting started. Thanks to fellow winemaker, Jim Fischer, for the beautiful photo!
Cellar 503 Tasting Notes
Day Wines, Dundee, Oregon
2013 Hock & Deuce
The Hock & Deuce is a blend of Syrah and Viognier from the Applegate Valley in southern Oregon.
Now, it’s not unusual for winemakers to include a little Viognier in with their Syrah. After all, the two grapes are grown together in their native home in France’s Rhône Valley. The Viognier helps balance out the intense red wine and brings out some aromatic and floral notes.
But what is unusual about this blend is the amount of Viognier – 15% is pretty high, at the upper edge of what is considered acceptable. But it absolutely works in this gorgeous wine from Brianne Day.
The Viognier helps tame the Syrah creating a playful, gentler wine that still has that big, gorgeous ripe fruit. The Viognier shines through in the nose with jasmine and violets jumping out of the glass. The taste is pure blue – huckleberry, blueberry and blue plums.
A Cellar 503 selection in May 2016, Women Winemakers Applegate Valley | Syrah, Viognier
