Nicolas-Jay 2017 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley

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Nicolas-Jay 2017 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 13.5% $65
The back label is signed "Viens Avec Nous", which means "Come With Us". While I wonder how many people understand that in the US, it does manage to seem appropriate for this blend of some of the Willamette Valleys "best of" (a nod to Jay Boberg's time in the music industry) vineyards. These include Nicolas-Jay's own Bishop Creek along with Temperance Hill, Hyland, Knight's Gambit and Momtazi. 

Smelling of sweet red cherries warmed by afternoon sunshine, this generously earthy Pinot Noir glides onto the palate feeling round and supple. It tastes impressively ripe for a vintage that boasted an abundant crop. This is surely due to strict yield management to ensure ripeness along with plentiful concentration. This has also given the wine a mildly glossy texture that is akin to the mouthfeel of a Pinot Noir much further down the coast. Also on that point, it tastes more like a warmer climate Pinot Noir; I'm not sure that I'd peg this as an Oregon wine were I tasting it blind. Nonetheless, it is a wine that will thrill many imbibers, even though the papery tannin texture feels dry on the moderate finish.