Harvest Report - October 12th, 2019

Even though Jean-Nicolas and I came to Oregon for the temperate weather, 2019 was the first truly cool climate vintage of the six years we have crafted Nicolas Jay wines. With few days in the 90’s (and no days over 100) our summer turned to Fall providing cool days and, starting Sept 7th, some meaningful precipitation. It was a harvest that challenged winemaker’s expertise - and with Jean-Nicolas and Tracy at the helm you can imagine how much our wines benefited from their astute and experienced decisions. If 2019 was a “winemakers vintage” (like 2013) it was equally a “farmers vintage” – we are fortunate to work with great vineyards with great farming practices that supplied us fruit in pristine condition in a vintage that could have easily tilted toward rot/botrytis had the farming not been at the top of the game. This was a vintage where our “ vine to vat” protocol - where we baby the grapes off the vine into our shallow bins, on to the sorting line and into the tank - really paid dividends. As of today most of our wines are pressed and in the barrel with just a few tanks (Momtazi and Temperance Hill) left to press and get down into the cellar. Our wines will be defined by a bright acidity, lovely fruit - more raspberry and tart cherry - and a wonderful freshness. You should anticipate wonderful food wines from 2019 with low alcohol and great balance. I believe we will all be very happy drinking these wines in a few years.

-Jay 

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2019 Harvest Report - September 14

2019 has been a roller coaster of a summer and early fall.  After a beautiful and mild summer, punctuated by showers and temperatures in the low 80’s, we prepared for a later and cooler harvest...

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Nicolas Jay in Forbes

Our own Tracy Kendall had the opportunity to talk with Forbes.com and explain the Nicolas Jay project, and what it means to make Pinot in Oregon. 

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Jay in World of Fine Wine

Jay was featured earlier this year in World of Fine Wine, in an article by Master of Wine Anne Krebiehl on "Pinot Noir Vignettes" 

Read the article here 

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Nicolas Jay Featured in Wine Spectator

In a feature covering the influence of Burgundy in Oregon, Nicolas Jay's 2016 Willamette Valley received 94 Points from Wine Spectator. Jay, Jean-Nicolas and Tracy received a full-page article, featured below...

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Exciting Marks from Vinous

Josh Raynolds of Vinous recently covered the 2017 vintage in the Willamette Valley, praising it as a vintage of richness. Nicolas Jay was proud to be among the wineries reviewed. 
 

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A New Home in the Dundee Hills

"Nicolas-Jay is putting down roots. After five harvests in the Willamette Valley, Jean-Nicolas Méo and partner Jay Boberg have purchased their own pied à terre in a cozy corner of the northern Dundee Hills."

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A Temperate Summer

We're on the cusp of veraison here at Temperance Hill (image above), high in the Eola-Amity Hills, while our estate vineyard Bishop Creek has already shown signs of color change. The season has been lush and green, with moderate temperatures and more summer rain than usual. In the next week, we will have crop estimates. On a moderately spaced vineyard, we target 2 to 2.5 tons per acre for fruit quality.

All of our sites are dry-farmed and the vines are showing no stress or slowing this season. Cluster sizes are small to moderate this year, with beautiful berries. We’ve seen more millerandage (tiny pea-sized berries mixed in with larger berries) than usual which is appealing for our winemaking. This creates more intensity and skin-to-juice ratio. We’ll use Temperance Hill as a blending component in our 2019 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.

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Nicolas Jay and Slow Wine in Oregon

Nicolas Jay is one of 50 wineries to appear in the first even Slow Wine Guide for Oregon!

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Nicolas Jay on Wine Extract

Jay and Jean-Nicolas sit down to talk Nicolas-Jay and more with The Extract, a video series dedicated to wine geeks and cork dorks from novice to expert.

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Chardonnay is Coming

The life of a vine is measured in decades, not years. It takes three years until a new vine produces fruit that can be harvested and five to eight years before a full crop of high-quality wine grapes are produced. Planting a new vineyard, then, is a long term endeavor that requires patience and fortitude. Top-grafting, however, grants us the ability to change the vineyard and harvest new fruit without the longer patience required for new plantings.  

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The Intricacies of Barrel Ageing

In a time when we have access to clean, easy to use, stainless steel containers, why continue to use small wooden barrels? French oak, or let us say European oak, because of its relatively loose fibers, allows the wine to breathe. A slow but continuous inflow of oxygen penetrates the wood and the wine, allowing it to mature gracefully. 

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The Art of Blending

While the vines are dormant and the 2018 wines are resting in the cellar, the new year brings the annual exercise of blending our wines. Most people think of blending in the context of blending varieties or different vineyards: Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, or Bishop Creek with Nysa, for example. However, putting two or three different barrels together is also considered blending.

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James Suckling Reviews the 2017 Vintage

This summer, James Suckling's Oregon critic Nick Stock returned to the Willamette Valley, this time to taste and review the 2017 wines. He found the wines "delivered a strong unified impression of rich flavors, structure and balance."

Nicolas Jay was among the highest scored wines tasted.

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