Wednesday Wines – Episode 291 – Nicolas-Jay 10th Anniversary Tasting @ BBR
Nicolas-Jay 10th Anniversary Tasting
held on the 23rd October 2025 @ Berry Bros. & Rudd
three of the stellar wines
Jean-Nicolas Méo-Camuzet (of Domaine Méo-Camuzet in Vosne-Romanée) and Jay Boberg (former music impresario and boss of labels such as Universal) began a conversation in 2012 about joining forces to create a top-class Oregon wine brand. After tasting fruit from over 200 sites, they selected eight vineyards from which to source their grapes. They ended up buying the Bishop Creek vineyard, and this is where their new winery sits, too. Their first vintage was 2014, and ten years later, Nicolas-Jay is one of the most profoundly enjoyable and seriously detailed wine portfolios in the world. To celebrate the tenth anniversary, Jean-Nicolas and Jay selected a wine from each vintage. Here are my notes. Also, here is a link to Episode 51, where you can read about my first encounter with these wines. I have tasted every wine since the release of the 2018 vintage, and you can search for my notes on this website.
(please forgive the somewhat incomplete nature of the notes: I tasted the wines quickly as I had to attend a number of tastings that day)
2014 Nicolas-Jay, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (a blend, later known as L’Ensemble – a barrel selection from all eight vineyards)
JN says they started with a more ‘New World’ style of wine, which was not ideal (in his opinion). However, on the nose and palate, this is a sensational style, characterised by a luxurious nose and palate, and layers of succulent, dark fruit. The finish is terrific with gorgeous acidity refreshing the palate, and while this is a demonstrative wine, it certainly has more energy in the tank and more potential. It is stunning, and a marvellous way to kick off a wine brand! Oak is evident, but it is in harmony, and you can sense an urgency to impress, which I find charming. 18.5/20
2015 Nicolas-Jay, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (a blend, later known as L’Ensemble – a barrel selection from all eight vineyards)
Harvested early because it was a warm vintage, this is a wine that shows superbly crisp acidity and attack, and the fruit palate is more red and purple than the blacker notes found in the 2014. The finish is refined, dynamic and cooling. There is more to come here, and the ingredients are clearly superb! 18.5+/20
2016 Nicolas-Jay, Nysa Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills (and own-rooted vineyard)
Ripe and harvested early in September, the fruit is open, floral, rose petal soaked, and, again, cooling on the finish. The fruit tones here are stunning, showing a clean, crisp, bright and refreshing air. There are harmony and brightness here, and it seems more youthful and expressive than a nine-year-old! Stunning, pure and surprisingly firm right at the tail end of the finish! 18.5+/20
2017 Nicolas-Jay, Momtazi Pinot Noir, McMinnville
A later harvest, with more precipitation and arguably the lightest vintage to date, there are gorgeous rhubarb and raspberry notes found here that make it a very different beast from the others. The texture is bright and creamy, but the fruit notes are more pronounced than expected for a wine with this light fruit tone. Enchanting, friendly and light, this is an outlier, but it is not in any way an inferior wine. Momtazi fruit is always firm, and it is this characteristic that has managed to prolong the life of this wine. This is the only vintage that needs to be moved forward to the front of your cellar. 18/20
2018 Nicolas-Jay, L’Ensemble, Willamette Valley (en magnum) (made from the same vineyards as the 2019)
L’Ensemble is envisioned as a snapshot of the entire Willamette Valley in each vintage. The nose here is truly mesmerising, and the fruit character, oak integration and sappy tannins mark this as a remarkable creation. All the component parts are here for serious greatness. The fruit is sublime, textured, grainy, balanced, and the tannins are thrilling. I absolutely adore this wine, and if you ever see it on a list, I highly recommend buying it. 19.5+/20
2019 Nicolas-Jay, L’Ensemble, Willamette Valley
There is less intensity on the nose here, and the fruit is lighter, brighter and more on its tiptoes than the other vintages, albeit with a darker style of fruit palette. The tannins loom earlier, and the acidity is present from the mid-palate onwards. These warning signs clamp down on the fruit, indicating this vintage is youthful and bristling with energy. If, as I expect to happen, the wine mellows and follows the signals on the perfume, this will be a sublime wine with amazing class and refinement. Patience is required! 18.5+/20
2021 Nicolas-Jay, Own Rooted Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
This is a sensational Pinot, and it is clear from the off! The nose and front of the palate open with an astounding fanfare of fruit, and this rolls on, uninterrupted, to the finish. Texturally, this is a highly complex, mineral-soaked wine, loaded with anti-fruit elements of bark, earth and pristine skin. Teasingly bitter and gloriously intellectual, this is a wickedly impressive wine that possesses the dual skill of drinking well and rewarding the taster, while also showing awesome potential for the future. It is stunning, and one of the most complete and memorable wines from this property. This wine is born of a great vintage but also the understanding and innate knowledge of the vineyards, which has been gleaned over the preceding vintages. 19+/20
2022 Nicolas-Jay, Nysa Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills
This is a little shy on the nose and somewhat drying and backwards on the palate, and there is a closed sense here that signals a wine that has yet to organise itself and is slightly grumpy about being woken too soon. There is much potential here, and yet it is compact, densely packed and immovable! 18.5++/20
2020 Nicolas-Jay, La Fleur Blanche, Bishop Creek White Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton (made in the smoke-soaked vintage, from the best block, usually selected for their Bishop Creek single vineyard Pinot Noir!)
Unusual, creamy, scented and vegetal/floral. There is a curious, smoky theme here that intertwines with notes of greengage and peach, making this an unusual and somewhat unique offering. There is a red wine finish here, with tannin and acidity in concert, making this a rather hectic and urgent style with attitude and a firm finish. The balance is somewhat off kilter, but I find it fascinating and challenging in equal measure. I think it will age well, too! This was a one-off, but it is certainly a fascinating souvenir from a catastrophic smoke-tainted vintage. 18/20
2023 Nicolas-Jay, Spirit Hill Chardonnay, Eola-Amity Hills
This is a stunning wine with terrific florals and beautifully calm and seamless fruit. The balance is perfect, and the resonance and charm are thrilling. Long, smooth, clean as a whistle, seductive and sensual, this is a classic Nicolas-Jay Chardonnay, and while it drinks well now, it will evolve perfectly over the next five or so years. 18.5/20