Nicolas-Jay: At the intersection of Burgundy expertise and Oregon fruit

Nicolas-Jay is a new producer (first vintage 2014) located in the Yamhill-Carlton District of Oregon's Willamette Valley. The enterprise brings together the grapegrowing and winemaking expertise of Burgundy's Jean-Nicolas Meo (Domaine Meo-Camuzet) and the wine enthusiasm and business acumen of Jay Boberg. The two men were scheduled to barnstorm Florida for five days to promote their wine with the first stop a seminar at Winter Park's Wine Room. Wineontheway.com arranged for me to attend this seminar. Unfortunately, Jean-Nicolas' flight was delayed, precluding his attendance at the event.

Jean-Nicolas Meo is the head of the famed Burgundy house Domaine Meo-Camuzet. Jay Boberg was a music industry executive with over 35 years of experience to include: cofounding the indie label I.R.S. Records; selling that business to Thorn/EMI in 1993; President of MCA Music Publishing; establishment of Liberation Entertainment (independent film and TV company); and Chairman of the Board of Isolation Network. These two gentlemen have been friends for over 30 years.

Boberg has been a long-time winelover and when he approached Jean-Nicolas about a potential collaboration, the pump had already been primed by a positive Pinot Noir experience for the latter at the International Pinot Noir celebration in 1991. But this alone was not enough. According to Jay, Jean-Nicolas' response to the initial overture was "We'll see." And so they set out on a journey, tasting grapes and wines from over 200 producers and growers in the region. The understanding was that if they were to do something, they would buy fruit and leverage Jean-Nicolas' winemaking skills.

Jay Boberg of Nicolas-Jay

During this exploratory phase they got word that one of the vineyards (Bishop Creek) where they had tasted was available for purchase. This did not fit with their plans but the fruit had been so impressive that they could not pass the opportunity by. And thus  a new Oregon winery was born: Nicolas-Jay.

The Bishop Creek Vineyard (shown on the map below) covers 30 acres in the Yamhill-Carlton District of Oregon's Willamette Valley AVA. Yamhill-Carlton experiences moderate growing conditions and its soils are coarse-grained ancient marine sedimentary soils over sandstone and siltstone.

Bishop Creek Vineyard plus other Nicolas-Jay
fruit sources (black dots). Source: nicolas-jay.com

Thirteen of the 30 acres were planted to vine in 1980, nine as own-rooted Pinot Noir and the remainder as Pinot Gris. The vineyard had been planted 2000 vines/acre (high density for the area, according to Jay) on a steep slope and had been farmed organically. Since the acquisition by Nicolas-Jay, the Pinot Gris has been grafted over to Chardonnay and some additional Pinot Noir has been planted on rootstocks.

In addition to the estate fruit, Nicolas-Jay buys fruit from eight other growers sprinkled around the Valley (shown as black dots on the map above). Vines from these producers are managed to Nicolas-Jay specifications with the vineyards being organic, biodynamic, or LEED. The goal is for 2 to 2.5 tons/acre from partner estates while Bishop Creek yields 3 tons/acre.

The Nicolas-Jay goal is to make wines that have great fruit expression but are balanced with tension and richness. According to Jay, they are making wine that they like and hope that they can find enough people with similar tastes so that they can have a going concern.

In terms of winemaking, optimal harvest time is determined through exhaustive sampling and tasting beginning about three weeks prior to the estimated harvest. Grapes are harvested into cherry bins and transported to the crush pad where they are sorted, de-stemmed, and placed into tanks for cold soaking. Each block is harvested, fermented, and aged separately. The grapes are fermented with natural yeasts after a 4 - 7-day cold soak. Cap management is via pumpover in the early stages of fermentation, supplemented by two to four punchdowns over the course of the fermentation process.

Solids are subjected to a bladder press with the resultant wine assigned to barrels for malolactic fermentation and aging. The aging regime calls for 1/3 new oak for 15 months. The barrels are kept in low temps in the early stages in order to extend the malolactic fermentation timeframe. The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered.

At the seminar we tasted two wines from Domaine Meo-Camuzet and two wines from Nicolas-Jay

The Meo-Camuzet 2014 Bourgogne Hautes Côte de Nuits had a beautiful match flint nose which I normally associate with robust sulfur addition at bottling. Citrus, lime, and matchflint. A bit austere, high acidity, and unresolved oak.

We tasted 2014 and 2015 editions of the Nicolas-Jay. According to Jay, 2014 had been very hot, with no rain during the summer and it began raining during harvest. The following year's harvest started out the same way but then they got 0.5 inches of rain in mid-August. The 2014 had a faded strawberry nose and baking spices. Bright red fruit, good concentration, spice and slight tannic grip. Light bodied. The 2015 had more structure, definition and focus than the 2014. Austere. Astringency and tannin apparent. Lengthy finish. 2014 more approachable while 2015 has more aging potential.

We closed out the tasting with the Meo-Camuzet 2015 Premier Cru Nuits-Saint-Georges aux Murgers. Strawberry nose, red fruit, coconut oil, baby powder, coal, tar. Good concentration and mouthfeel. Round. Lengthy finish.  Illustrates the challenge confronting Nicolas-Jay.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Oregon wine regions: The Willamette Valley AVA

My immediately preceding post provided an overview of winemaking in Oregon.  This post, the first of a series that will cover the individual winegrowing regions within the state, provides insight into one of its most important wine regions, the Willamette Valley.

The Willamette Valley AVA is the largest of the Oregon AVAs, covering, as it does, 5200 square miles to include an area from the Columbia River in the north to the Calapooya Mountains just south of Eugene and bordered on the west and east by the Coast and Cascade Ranges, respectively.  Named for the river that bisects its 60-mile width for most of its 150 mile length, the valley is home to two-thirds of the state's wineries.

Willamette Valley has a maritime climate -- cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers -- a climate pattern which, according to willamettevalleyagriculture.com, allows for a longer growing season.  The valley is protected by the Coast range to its west and a series of hill chains to the north.  According to oregonvineyardland.com, valley climate is moderated by three openings in the Coast Range which provide gateways for the transit of cool air between the Pacific Ocean and the valley.  The opening between Lincoln City on the coast and Salem in the valley is named Van Duzer Corridor.  The remaining two (un-named) corridors run from Newport to Corvalis and Florence to Eugene, respectively.

Rainfall averages 40-45 inches/year with 50% of the precipitation occurring between December and February and very little occurring during the summer.

As shown in the figure below, the Willamette Valley soil profile was established over a very long time horizon beginning with the hardening of ancient lava flows over 50 million years ago and continuing to the most recent layers deposited within the last 15,000 years.

Source: Pinot Camp 2012 document

According to the Oregon Pinot Camp 2012 documentation, ",,, great Willamette Valley Pinot Noir grows on rocky hillsides facing south or southeast, at least 200 feet above sea level and avoiding cooler hilltop microclimates over 800 feet."  The document goes on to assert that these conditions generally occur on volcanic, marine sedimentary, or windblown (loess) soils.

When it was initially designated in 1984, the Willamette Valley AVA extended over 3.3 million acres.  Over the intervening years, the valley's viticulturists have been able to discern and communicate the existence of six unique terroirs within the broader AVA and these six have all been designated as AVAs.  The characteristics of these AVAs are highlighted in the table  and figure below.

Source: Compiled from oregonwines.com

There are a total of 610 vineyards on the 15,120 planted acres in the Willamette Valley AVA and these vineyards produced 29,425 tons of grapes in 2011 (USDA NASS, Oregon Field Office, nassusda.gov).  Yield per harvested acre in 2011 was 2.18, indicating additional upside production potential without harm to the quality of the region's wines.  Of the 2011 wine grape production, 75.7% was Pinot Noir, 18.5% Pinot Gris and 5% Chardonnay.  Negligible amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and White Riesling are also planted.

Based on the numbers, Pinot Noir is king in the Willamette Valley. But there is no ubiquitous Pinot Noir profile.  According to Oregon Pinot Camp 2012, depending on the soil type, a different profile will emerge: on volcanic soils, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir will accentuate "high-toned aromatics, red/blue fruits, baking spices, and soft, succulent tannins;"  on sedimentary soils, "blue/black fruit, earth tones, and ... heavier tannins;" and on loess, "mixed berry fruits, exotic spices, licorice, cedar" along with briary components and round tannins.

With all of the assets listed above, Willamette Valley AVA would not have been as successful as it has become without the people.  From the pioneers, to the ones who followed, to the viticulturists and owners plying the trade today, the valley has been characterized by a cooperative, learning, working relationship which should serve as a model to every up-and-coming wine region.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme