Jay Boberg is loosening the ratchet-straps that are securing harvest bins to a flatbed trailer in preparation for the picking of Pinot Noir in the Nysa Vineyard the following dawn.
Tasting the Domaine Nicolas-Jay range:
Domaine Nicolas-Jay: the facts
Date founded: 2014
Location: Willamette Valley, Oregon
Owners: Jean-Nicolas Méo and Jay Boberg
Production: 3,500 cases
Area under vine: 5.5ha at Bishop Creek with additional fruit sourced from the following vineyards: Temperance Hill, Hyland, Knight’s Gambit, Nysa, Hopewell, Momtazi, La Colina
Domaine Nicolas-Jay: a timeline
1987: Jay Boberg and Jean-Nicolas meet at a dinner at Jay’s sister’s house in Philadelphia, where Jean-Nicolas and Jill were enrolled at Penn State University in a Masters program
1989: Jean-Nicolas returns to his family’s domaine, Domaine Méo-Camuzet, and works alongside Henri Jayer, preparing to take over winemaking in 1991
2011: Véronique Drouhin and David Millman of Domaine Drouhin Oregon encourage Jay Boberg to look into the Willamette Valley for a future wine project
2012: Jay approaches longtime friend Jean-Nicolas about starting a winery together in Oregon
2012/13: Jean-Nicolas makes many trips to Oregon to visit cellars with Jay, tasting fruit from more than 200 vineyards
2013: Domaine Nicolas-Jay is officially founded
2014: Nicolas-Jay purchases the organically farmed Bishop Creek Vineyard
2014: The winery produced its inaugural Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, as well as estate bottlings from Bishop Creek Vineyard and Nysa Vineyard
2015: Chardonnay is planted at Bishop Creek Vineyard
2018: Nicolas-Jay buys a 20ha property in the Dundee Hills and begins work on their building a winery and planting additional estate vineyards
