2015 Day Wines Vin de Days Pinot Noir Johan Vineyard 750 ml

A New Day in Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

It doesn’t happen often. But when the Willamette Valley has delivered a perfect growing season, its Pinot Noirs are far and away the closest America ever comes to Vosne-Romanée. 2008 was one of those years, as was 2014. But after tasting a few just-bottled 2015s, we are excited to say that this vintage could even surpass the stellar 2014s.

Antonio Galloni’s Vinous has an early read on the vintage, quoting more than one grower calling 2015 “a ‘pinch me: I think I’m dreaming’ type of year.”

Oregon’s wine country has always been compared to Burgundy. Like the Côte de Nuits, Oregon’s weather is capricious. Winters are chilly and wet, providing deep water tables and helping the vines through warm, arid summers. The tail end of the growing season is fraught with curveballs and potential calamity.

Also, like in Burgundy, the top winemakers in the valley are passionate individualists, crafting signature Pinot Noirs that speak as much of the winemaker’s palate as the place from which the fruit is drawn. Over the last decade, Lynn Penner-Ash, Laurent Montalieu, Ken Wright, Tony Soter, and Josh Bergström have stunned critics and collectors with their signature Pinot Noirs. As we discovered last month, there’s a newcomer whose single-vineyard 2015s stand tall against the Willamette Valley elite. In only her third vintage, Brianne Day has made a name for herself as one of Oregon’s rising stars.

Brianne was born in Oregon and first became interested in wine while visiting Italy at the age of 19. Her first harvest was all the way across the world in New Zealand, though, at the Murdoch James Estate in Martinborough. Pursuing her passion, Day sought and landed positions at some of the finest wineries in Oregon, Argentina, Burgundy, and the Loire Valley. It was at these wineries that Day developed her craft, setting herself up to return to the Willamette Valley and start her own winery.

It wouldn’t be long before Brianne fell in love with Johan Vineyard. In 2013, she’d take her first swing at Johan’s succulent small-berry clusters, turning out what we believe to be one of the most impressive, high-toned, aromatic, and energetic wild-berry Pinot Noirs ever to come off this superb Willamette Valley holding.

Johan Vineyard is set in the heart of the Willamette Valley near the town of Salem. The vineyards are cooled by a breeze that rolls in off the Pacific Ocean through the Van Duzer Corridor. Cooling air suspends the ripening in the late afternoon and evening, which helps preserve acidity within the individual berries. It is this marine influence, in combination with the marine sedimentary soils, that gives Johan Vineyards its unique terroir. Pinot Noir from the 2015 vintage seems to be cut from the same cloth as the phenomenal 2014s but with a more pronounced richness similar to the 2012s. But unlike 2012 and 2014, there was no disease risk whatsoever in 2015, making for clean and healthy grapes throughout the Valley. Sugars were naturally high as acids remained firm, making for Burgundian-styled Pinot Noirs packed with vivid Russian River-like concentration.

Brianne Day’s 2015 Vin de Days Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Johan Vineyard is making waves in the industry. Antonio Galloni’s Vinous called the wine “appealingly sweet and penetrating” with “spice-laced raspberry and boysenberry flavors,” before giving it 91 points. We agree.  It’s deep ruby-red to the edge, infused with piercing aromas of red raspberry, black cherry, cola, and sweet spices. Plush and juicy on the attack, filled with almost chewy, crushed-red-fruit bramble, the finish remains high-toned and vibrant.

Brianne Day has arrived. Her 2015 Johan Vineyard Pinot Noir is absolutely brilliant. 91 points from Vinous. 65 cases earmarked for a WineAccess exclusive. We’re telling you now, you won’t often come across a top-vintage, single-vineyard Oregon Pinot Noir anywhere close to this $20 price-point. Shipping included on 6. Don’t make us say we told you so.