Nicolas Jay

History of Domaine Nicolas-Jay

The story of Domaine Nicolas-Jay is that of two long-time friends. Jean-Nicolas Méo has led the renowned Domaine Méo-Camuzet in Vosne-Romanée since the late 1980s, where he was mentored by the legendary Henri Jayer and crafts some of Burgundy's most sought-after grand crus, from Richebourg to Clos de Vougeot. Jay Boberg, for his part, left his mark on the music industry by co-founding the label I.R.S. Records and later serving as president of MCA/Universal, launching artists such as R.E.M. and Mary J. Blige. The two men have shared a 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 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 craft their wines in their own gravity-flow winery at the heart of their domaine des Dundee Hills, with the ambition of building a lasting legacy, transmissible from generation to generation.

Terroirs and Vineyards of Domaine Nicolas-Jay

The terroir of Domaine Nicolas-Jay unfolds in the Willamette Valley, in northern Oregon, a wine region sheltered by the Coast 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 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 Bishop Creek Vineyard, a historic vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton appellation planted in 1987 with own-rooted vines and farmed organically, whose grapes bring depth and structure to all the blended cuvées. The estate also sources fruit from some of the finest vineyards in the valley, farmed organically or biodynamically, including Nysa in the Dundee Hills, Momtazi and Hyland in McMinnville, and Temperance Hill. The soils, combining marine sediments and volcanic red Jory earth, define the identity of the wines.

Winemaking at Domaine Nicolas-Jay

In the image of Domaine Méo-Camuzet, the winemaking at Nicolas-Jay favours finesse and respect for the fruit. Fermentations start spontaneously, thanks solely to 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 by 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 Burgundy's greatest terroirs, allows the character of each vineyard and each vintage to express itself fully.

The cuvées of Domaine Nicolas-Jay

The range revolves above all around Pinot Noir. The Nicolas-Jay Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, a flagship cuvée blended from several vineyards including a large share of Bishop Creek, offers each year a fully realised 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 most beautiful plots: a Pinot Noir of great depth, structured and built for long ageing.

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

The Chardonnays complete the collection with brilliance. The Nicolas-Jay Willamette Valley Chardonnay, a blend of several biodynamically farmed sites, displays great tension and aromas of salt, peach and pear, underscored by a beautiful minerality. The Bishop Creek Chardonnay, from a plot in the estate's own vineyard, stands out for its finesse and elegance, with stone fruit, white flowers and a saline touch, in a refined style destined for fine ageing.