Winemaker Notes
The “Own-Rooted” Pinot Noir showcases several old-vine sites in the Willamette Valley, each at least 30 years old, and planted at a time when rootstock was relatively rare in Oregon viticulture. Our own Bishop Creek Vineyard supplies a portion of the blend, showing off its characteristic black fruit. Hyland Vineyard, the oldest in the McMinnville AVA, sits atop a hillside looking over the Van Duzer Corridor, and its 45-year-old vines supply tension in this wine. 1990-planted Pommard from Nysa Vineyard completes this wine, supplying elegant red fruit and spice.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is a beautiful wine with dark berries, mushrooms and pretty ripe berry undertones. Fruit tea as well. Medium-bodied with fine tannins and a reserved finish. Light iodine at the end. Drink now or hold.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Nicolas-Jay Own-Rooted Pinot Noir exhibits power and persistence. TASTING NOTES: This excellent wine shows lush, black fruit aromas, and flavors. Enjoy its lovely and elevated palate with a grilled ribeye topped with minced shallots. (Tasted: May 23, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Spectator
Svelte and refined, with a lively beam of acidity and minerally tannins wrapped in elegantly layered raspberry and blueberry flavors laced with clove and spice. Drink now through 2028.
Home of some of the planet’s most amazingly elegant and expressive Pinot noir, the Willamette Valley is a pastoral, mixed landscape of green, bucolic rolling hills, dramatic forestlands and small, independent, friendly wine growers. As a leader in environmental stewardship, the valley has some of the nation’s most protective land use policies, with two-thirds of its vineyards farmed sustainably and over half, organically. While the valley claims a cool, continental climate, and is heavily influenced by the cold, moist winds of the Pacific Ocean, its warm and dry summers allow for the steady, even ripening of Pinot noir.
The potential of Willamette Valley Pinot noir continues to attract the investment of serious growers and winemakers both locally and from abroad, as naturally the finished wines bring accolades from professionals and enthusiasts. With a range of styles from delicate dried cherry, raspberry and hibiscus to stronger notes of truffle, mocha, plum and spice, a fine Willamette Valley Pinot noir is a perfect expression of both character and grace.