by Patrick Ogle

Day Wines' Running Bare 2013 blend has some bite to it and maybe could use a little air--a mix of cab franc, malbec and tannat the wine isn't really heavy or high alcohol. But it lets you know it is THERE, like a slap in the face. This is especially true right out of the bottle. 

Taste this wine as it develops with contact to air. It is good right out of the bottle, 20 minutes later, an hour later and it mellows out seriously the next day. This wine comes from Mae's Vinyard in Applegate Valley AVA, Oregon.

This is a wine that you may change your opinion about when you have it a few times but those opinions will never be negative. One reason to never form a solid opinion when having it at a tasting is that a  little  taste is different from a glass or a bottle with friends. It reminds me of how when you hear a song you really like you may have a different feeling about it when you hear it with someone else.

Day makes a series of pinot noirs with quite different characteristics but this is something different, something unique. The blend is something others have done (although Ive never had it) but I bet this one is different from those blends --for one they'd originate in France.

Tannat is a wine that has a lot of tannins and is known to be heavy, gigantic in body and, hence, has been considered somewhat unapproachable. French tannats can also be quite expensive. They grow the grape in South America; Uruguay has adopted the grape as its own and it is also found in Argentina. Malbec can also be a big bodied wine while cabernet franc usually has a somewhat lighter profile. Given that I'd guess cab franc makes up the largest part of this blend (I checked and it makes up 50 percent).

You may notice the bottle is signed; I asked Brianne Day to sign it for me because she truly is a wine rock star.

Find out specifics HERE.