Oregon wine: 2018 Nicolas-Jay L’Ensemble Willamette Valley Pinot noir

1145 cases produced // native yeast 

Nicolas-Jay is a unique partnership between Jay Boberg and Burgundian winemaker Jean-Nicolas Méo of Domaine Méo-Camuzet. Their shared love of wine is the glue in their decades-long friendship. After Jay retired from a successful career in the music industry (he co-founded I.R.S. Records while attending UCLA), he approached Jean-Nicolas with the idea of launching a winery in Oregon. Following that conversation, they purchased a vineyard, then property on which they planted another vineyard and built a new winery. With Jean-Nicolas in France much of the year, associate winemaker Tracy Kendall oversees the day-to-day winemaking of the small winery.

As the name suggests, this Pinot noir is a blend of grapes grown in different sub-AVAs within the Willamette Valley. Fermented using native yeast, the wine was aged in 33% new French oak barrels for 14 months. It was not fined and filtered before bottling. With many classic aromas and flavors found in Willamette Valley Pinot, it’s a versatile, food-friendly wine.