Nicolas Jay

History of the Nicolas-Jay Estate

The story of the Nicolas-Jay estate is that of two long-standing friends. Jean-Nicolas Méo has been at the helm of the celebrated Domaine Méo-Camuzet in Vosne-Romanée since the late 1980s, where he was trained by the legendary Henri Jayer and crafts some of the most sought-after grand crus in Burgundy, from Richebourg to Clos de Vougeot. Jay Boberg, for his part, made his mark on the music industry by co-founding the I.R.S. Records label and then serving as president of MCA/Universal, launching artists such as R.E.M. and Mary J. Blige. The two men have shared the same passion for Pinot Noir for thirty years.

In 2012, captivated by the potential of Oregon wines, they decided to join forces. After two years of exploration and the tasting of more than two hundred vineyards in the Willamette Valley, they set their sights on the Bishop Creek Vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton appellation, which they acquired. The first vintage was released in 2014. Supported by the talented winemaker Tracy Kendall, Jean-Nicolas and Jay now produce their wines in their own gravity-flow winery, at the heart of their estate in the Dundee Hills, with the ambition of building a lasting legacy, transmissible from generation to generation.

Terroirs and Vines of the Nicolas-Jay Estate

The terroir of the Nicolas-Jay estate flourishes in the Willamette Valley, in northern Oregon, a vineyard protected by the coastal range and benefiting from a cool climate, generous winter rains and dry, sunny summers. These conditions, ideal for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, remind Jean-Nicolas Méo of those in Burgundy, with an inverted challenge: here, it is not ripeness that is lacking, but freshness and acidity that must be preserved.

The heart of the estate is the Bishop Creek Vineyard, a historic vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton appellation planted in 1987 on own-rooted vines and farmed organically, whose grapes bring depth and structure to all the blended cuvées. The estate also sources from some of the finest vineyards in the valley, farmed organically or biodynamically, such as Nysa in the Dundee Hills, Momtazi and Hyland in McMinnville, and Temperance Hill. The soils, blending marine sediments and red volcanic Jory earth, define the identity of the wines.

Vinifications of the Nicolas-Jay Estate

In the spirit of Domaine Méo-Camuzet, the vinification at Nicolas-Jay favours finesse and respect for the fruit. Fermentations start spontaneously, using only indigenous yeasts. For the Pinot Noirs, the grapes are fully destemmed and then slowly pressed at low pressure, in order to preserve the purity of the fruit and achieve a silky texture on the palate.

The wines are then aged in French oak barrels from François Frères, with a measured proportion of new wood, then bottled without fining or filtration. The Chardonnays, fermented and aged in barrel with lees stirring, gain in volume and complexity while retaining their tension. This minimalist approach, inherited from the greatest terroirs of Burgundy, allows the character of each vineyard and each vintage to express itself fully.

The Cuvées of the Nicolas-Jay Estate

The range revolves above all around Pinot Noir. The Nicolas-Jay Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, the flagship cuvée blended from several vineyards including a large share of Bishop Creek, offers each year a refined reading of the vintage, rich, balanced and expressive. At the top of the range, L'Ensemble brings together the finest barrels hand-selected by Jean-Nicolas Méo from the estate's best plots: a Pinot Noir of great depth, structured and built for long cellaring.

The estate also produces superb single-vineyard Pinot Noirs that reveal the diversity of the Willamette Valley terroirs. The Pinot Noir Bishop Creek, sourced from the estate's own vineyard, captivates with its notes of blackberry, undergrowth and spices and its tight structure. The Pinot Noir Nysa, elegant and airy, plays on finesse and fragrance, while the Pinot Noir Momtazi, from a renowned biodynamically farmed vineyard, shows a more reserved and taut character. The Pinot Noir Hyland, finally, draws from old vines a beautiful aromatic complexity.

The Chardonnays complete the collection brilliantly. The Nicolas-Jay Willamette Valley Chardonnay, a blend of several biodynamically farmed sites, displays great tension and aromas of brine, peach and pear, underlined by a beautiful minerality. The Chardonnay Bishop Creek, sourced from a plot within the estate's own vineyard, stands out for its finesse and elegance, combining stone fruits, white flowers and a saline touch in a refined style that promises fine ageing.