Unique Reds From Day Wines
Part two of three exploring current releases from this adventurous Oregon winery
I came home from the Willamette Valley with a car full of new releases from many of the wineries I visited last month. Although I often taste wines at wineries (and very much enjoy the chance to sit down with winemakers and crew to chat about them) I do not review wines under those conditions. The principal reason is the time limitation. I firmly believe that to offer meaningful reviews and scores to wineries and consumers, it’s essential that I spend focused time under controlled conditions with each bottle.
That can only happen when I am tasting alone at home. Furthermore, even there I rarely open more than a half dozen wines in a day. I’ve done more than my share of massive wine tastings over the years, and it’s indisputable that the more subtle, elegant or unusual a wine is, the more likely it is to be overlooked, under-appreciated or simply blown past before it has a chance to show its best. On some future post I will offer all the myriad reasons that medal-hawking wine competitions are a farce, but suffice it to say that they are among the very worst ways to evaluate young wines.
When I sorted through my mixed case of Day wines, I divvied them up into three separate tasting groups, and spent the better part of a week going through them all.
The second group was comprised of the four red wines shown below – an explorer’s wine cabinet of unusual varieties and wines not considered mainstream in Oregon. As of this writing, all are available for purchase here.
Day 2021 100 Years A Lady Pinot Meunier
This young, grapey wine presents Pinot Meunier – most commonly found as a component in Champagne and other sparkling wines – as a stand-alone, fragrant, rather austere dry red. Currant, rhubarb and hints of white pepper adorn the palate. It's restrained and clearly aimed at showing a different spectrum of flavors as opposed to riper, fruitier Pinot Noirs. 12%; $42 (Van Duzer Corridor) 91/100
Day 2021 Achelous Mondeuse
Mondeuse, rare though it may be, is grown in widely separated parts of Oregon – Rogue Valley, Columbia Gorge and in this instance at Johan vineyards in the Van Duzer Corridor AVA. It's a bit like a high elevation Barbera, chewy with a rustic familiarity. The sort of gulpable red you can drink chilled with a burger. Pomegranate, iron filings, a hint of fungus... at first taste an interesting farmer-style red wine. On day two the fruit powered forward, the core flavors expanded, and it was a much better wine. Aerate! 12.5%; $42 (Van Duzer Corridor) 92/100
Day 2018 A Peridot Afternoon
Sourced from the Deux Vert vineyard, this is Syrah co-fermented with a healthy (10%) percentage of Viognier. Northern Willamette Valley Syrahs are stylistically different from the Rogue Valley or Rocks District Syrahs that book-end the state. Tightly compressed, this is packed with flavors of mountain berries and pie cherries. At first restrained, it opens with ample breathing into a well built, balanced and detailed wine. The savory palate avoids the overt funkiness of Syrahs from the Rocks District. I suspect that this will drink at its best toward the end of this decade. 13.4%; $44 (Yamhill-Carlton) 92/100
Day 2021 Infinite Air Castles Red
This Gamay/Dolcetto blend pushes pretty red and blue fruits up front, backed with ample tannins. There's a streak of graphite adding a hint of bitter herb, such as may be found in Italian reds – a nod I suppose to the Dolcetto component. Aromatically seductive and intensely flavorful, this opens up to a palate bursting with just-pressed cherries. Try it with an appetizer of cured meats and farm cheeses. 13.8%; $40 (Willamette Valley) 93/100