Wine of the Week: Nicolas Jay Pinot Noir
Collector-worthy pinot noir from a music industry legend.
There’s a lot of really good pinot noir in Oregon, particularly in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. It’s an idyllic place to make wine, with rolling hills and forests threaded throughout the region. A coast range to the west and the Chehalem mountains to protect the region from the strong seaside breezes, making it an ideal territory for viticulture.
And Domaine Nicolas-Jay is one of the best examples of that. The winery is a collaboration between Jean-Nicolas Meo, a superstar Burgundian winemaker, and Jay Boberg, a music producer who has worked with R.E.M, Fine Young Cannibals, The Police, The Go-Gos, Black Sabbath, and Mary J Blige.
The duo now commands acreage of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, turning both into award-winning single vineyard iterations. Any of their options are excellent and show the diversity of the region’s plantings, but keep an eye out for their own-rooted pinot noir.
The special bottling uses only own-rooted (meaning, original vines) from the region, sourced from three sites across McMinnville, Dundee Hills, and Yamhill-Carlton AVA. The wine is wildly alive, with exceptional depth and suave-as-hells tannins. Drink it now as a treat, but it will only get better with age. $90
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