I don’t get an opportunity to highlight items from the sample pool here on these virtual pages as much as I would like these days (reason: toddler). But I am putting in ye ol’ college try to do so for this one. I might also be setting a personal record for the use of parenthesis today (not a scientific measurement, just a guess)…
The little gem that is making me take a break from paying wine writing work and daddy duty is the 2022 Nicolas Jay ‘Own-Rooted’ Pinot Noir from Willamette (dammit) Valley. Assembled from organic and biodynamic vineyards in Dundee Hills, McMinnville, and Yamhill-Carlton, only 413 cases were made (all bottled unfined and unfiltered), from a team led by Co-founder/music mogul Jay Boberg and Domaine Meo-Camuzet alumnus winemaker Jean-Nicolas Méo.
Those particular vineyards—Bishop Creek (theirs), Hyland (McMinnville’s oldest), and Nysa (with 1990s-era Pommard plantings)—all sport something that is becoming increasingly rare throughout the wine world these days: own-rooted (ungrafted) vines, many more than 40 years old.
In my (now admittedly fairly extensive) experience, wine from ungrafted vines is not inherently special or better than that coming from vines grafted onto American rootstocks—it’s just different. Using (way, way, WAY too) broad strokes, I would say that on average such wines are not necessarily more aromatically complex or purer of flavor, but they often just hit different in terms of texture. A bit more direct. A bit more authentic. More personal, perhaps.
Such is the case with this 2022.
2022 Nicolas Jay ‘Own-Rooted’ Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $100
According to Nicolas-Jay, 2022’s late budbreak set off a domino effect that resulted in longer hang-time for the fruit that they chose for this vintage, but even with that it clocks in at just 13.5% abv. At first, aromatically, things unfold at a very leisurely (read: slow) pace. Some earthy notes, a bit of savory olive, baking spices, a hint of grilled game meatiness. Then the intensity starts to ramp up ever so slightly, with black tea leaves, violets, chocolate, mint, and then boysenberry, blackberry, and black plums. You start to realize that you are dealing with a wine that is completely comfortable in its own skin. In the mouth, the fruit is dark (by Pinot standards) but never once feels heavy. I loved the texture: the entry is effortless, and buoyantly light on its feet. It’s not until halfway through a sip that you feel the depth of the black fruits, and not until the end that you sense the structure. Delicious (VERY) now, but the scaffolding should see it through 6+ years of bottle aging. 50% new French oak, but you’d never know it thanks to how masterfully integrated it is.
Cheers!