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 6000 cases a year of fantastic wines and she’s opened Day Camp, a collaborative facility for small, natural winemakers in the heart of the Willamette Valley.

It’s a true story. And Brianne Day is just getting started.