2014 Day Wines Pinot Noir Crowley Station 750 ml

Seize The Day

Any winegrower worth their salt will tell you that their wines are made in the vineyard, not in the cellar. But the most astute growers will tell you something even more fascinating: Based on the flavor profile of grapes plucked and tasted right off the sorting table, they can extrapolate the makeup of the finished wine.

In our 30 years on the wine trail, we’d never encountered as many winegrowers describing in detail “deep, dark, juicy” Pinot Noirs — before those wines had even begun to ferment! — as we did in the Willamette Valley during Wine Spectator’s 94- to 97-point harvest in 2014.

Brianne Day had a field day with the perfect fruit harvested from Crowley Station Vineyards. In only her second vintage as a winery owner, she was blessed with one of the greatest vintages ever in the Willamette Valley. We’re dead serious when we say that Brianne’s single-vineyard 2014s stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Oregon’s elite.

Brianne was born in Oregon and first became interested in wine while visiting Italy at the age of 19. Her first harvest, though, was all the way across the world in New Zealand, 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.

Crowley Station Vineyards is an own-rooted, dry-farmed vineyard on an ancient seabed, complete with oyster shell fossils, with layers of volcanic silty clay loam and basalt boulders sprinkled throughout and surrounded by Oregon white oaks. The site sits at an altitude of 250 to 450 feet above sea level right at the tail end of the Van Duzer Corridor. Cool air off the corridor suspends 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 Crowley Station its unique terroir. The 2014 Pinot Noir harvested from the vineyard was nothing short of a revelation. Nearly every grape harvested was plucked from succulent small-berry clusters.

Brianne Day’s 2014 Pinot Noir Crowley Station Vineyards Willamette Valley Eola Amity Hills AVA is the finest effort yet from the vinous wunderkind. But we’re not alone in our opinions. Wine & Spirits Magazine made it a “Critic’s Pick” and “Wine of the Month,” noting that “the wine seems to walk a line between earthy savor and fruit, between tension and ripeness” and “reaches a comfortable middle ground with understated elegance,” before dropping 94 points. Antonio Galloni’s Vinous agreed in its 92-point review: “Sweet and expansive on the palate, offering juicy red and dark berry flavors lifted and given spine by a jolt of zesty acidity.” We loved its garnet red color and gorgeous aromatics. Blackberry briar patch with high-toned notes of rose petal and coriander. Deep concentration with earth notes. This is superb.

Brianne Day is here; get used to hearing her name. Her 2014 “Crowley Station” Pinot Noir is as gorgeous as it gets. 94 points from Wine & Spirits. 92 points from Vinous. 40 cases earmarked for a WineAccess exclusive. At $35, a STEAL that will light up your day and let you save more for another Day.