Winery
Nicolas-Jay Estate is a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay venture located in the Dundee Hills region of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Celebrated Burgundian winemaker, Jean Nicolas Méo of Domaine Méo-Camuzet, and renowned music and media entrepreneur, Jay Boberg, lend their individual talents and shared dedication to the winery, where traditional French winemaking meets quintessential Oregon terroir.
Vineyards
Fruit is sourced from the Dundee Hills (65%), Eola-Amity (22%), Yamhill-Carlton (8%) and the Tualatin Hills AVA (5%) for this 7th rendition of this ever-popular cuvée. Dundee Hills provides an ethereal, red-fruited component, while Eola-Amity brings bright acids and energy. The Yamhill-Carlton appellation, with its porous marine soil and Mediterranean climate contributes power and blue fruits. The new AVA of Tualatin Hills, in the NW corner of the Willamette Valley on its Laurelwood soils, shows why this area has earned its status with its herbs, anise and sweet earth undertones.
Vintage
The beautiful 2021 vintage began with a warm dry winter followed by a wet and cool late Spring. Despite rain during bloom, yields were high and the vines soaked up the nourishing moisture early in the season. June also brought a heat dome with temperatures breaking 115 degrees in the Willamette Valley. Luckily, this unprecedented heat came at a time before the grapes were susceptible to damage and the growing season continued warm but without issue. A cooler August was a sigh of relief as we neared harvest. Grape ripening slowed down and the very healthy and abundant fruit began showing signs of ripeness in early September. We began picking on September 4th with 2 separate chardonnay vineyards and finished on September 27th with our latest and highest elevation chardonnay site – Spirit Hill. Harvest was beautiful and dry with only one small rain event toward the end, ideal for a successful vintage. The fruit was pristine and yields comfortable, leading to moderate alcohol levels and bright acidity. Our first vintage made entirely here at the Nicolas-Jay estate, the wines are showing purity of fruit, beautiful texture and tension and are sure to continue to evolve for years in bottle.
Winemakers Tasting Notes
A beautiful garnet color is the first indication of a dense, concentrated harvest. It’s stunning at first approach with red cherry, black tea and subtle splashes of toasted clove, spices and citrus aromas. The fruit is crunchy and wet at this early stage, but a core of cinnamon spice and light menthol arrive to inter-mingle with these cold pressed red fruit elements as the wine begins to stretch out. Alert acidity on the front-end gives way to granite, medium-weight tannins. It’s round on the palate, but shifts into a compression of red bush fruits, orange citrus and sandalwood that presses for minutes but still finds a way to maintain an elegant canter so typical of this celebrated cuvée.
