Certified Organic & Biodynamic!
Nicolas-Jay L'Ensemble Pinot Noir is the collection of the best blocks and barrels of everything they farm. This wine, according to Meo, is the winery’s ‘Super Blend,’ a reserve-level offering to show their ‘Best of the Best,’ a cuvée comprised of the most expressive barrels from each vineyard astutely assembled to bring forth extraordinary depth, complexity, age-ability, and finesse. Thing of Meo combining his best barrels of Clos Vougeot, Corton Perrieres and Vosne-Romanee Les Suchots! Harvested in small cherry-picking bins, fermented on its native yeast and bottled unfined and unfiltered, the 2022 L’Ensemble is comprised entirely of either bio-dynamic, organic or LIVE certified vineyards and is, in short, a particularly stunning bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir!  says partner Jay Boberg.
 
95-Points by Decanter.
A good bit of this wine comes from Bishop Creek, up to 1/3, though it includes five or six other sites. 'The idea of this wine is to express both the Valley and the vintage', says Jean-Nicolas Meo. It's both a vineyard and barrel selection and 30% new oak. The aromatics are grounded in red florals, with touches of earth and a spritz of spiced blood orange. The palate is elegant and refined, with tart berries, a silken structure and a beautiful finish of savoury spice. We make the barrel selection for this wine first before we make our single vineyard wines. 
 
94-Points by Jeb Dunnuck.
The 2022 Pinot Noir L'Ensemble is a top 100 Wines of the Year contender. Sporting a reflective medium ruby hue in the glass, it's pretty and inviting on opening, with pure notes of wild berries, delicate spices, crushed stones, and fresh roses. Medium-bodied on the palate, it's refreshing and light on its feet, with fine tannins, a clean feel all the way through, and a tapered, mouthwatering finish. Seamless and pure, this is fantastic appellation wine to enjoy over the next 10-12 years. I would snatch up a case or two to enjoy more frequently.
 
From the Winemaker: "Although just the second interpretation of this cuvee, Nicolas-Jay has been envisioning this wines construction since their very first vintage. This really is the collection of the best blocks and barrels of everything they farm. The 2022 L’Ensemble showcases Christmas spice, currants, blueberries and sweet forest floor notes. The front end brings strawberries, then chalky granite complexities, and subsequently shifts back to a fresh cranberry and hood river cherry. A framing of gentle vanilla weight from extra aging in French oak completes the palate. The fruit is cascading in effect, it forms in waves, with precise integration and symmetry that supports the wine’s finesse and power.
 
Nicolas-Jay Estate is a leading producer of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the Willamette Valley region of Oregon. The venture is the result of a three-decade friendship between music entrepreneur Jay Boberg and renowned Burgundian winemaker Jean-Nicolas Méo, of Domaine Méo-Camuzet in Vosne-Romanee. It is also the story of their desire to build something lasting together, while creating a distinctive expression of great Willamette Valley Pinot noir. At Nicolas-Jay, this is achieved by applying viticultural and winemaking experience gained from working with the Grands Crus of Burgundy and the finest grapes from Oregon.
Vineyards and winery
The winery is located in a picturesque ampitheatre on the north side of the Dundee Hills. The 53-acre (21.4-hectare) property is a former longhorn cattle ranch and Christmas Tree farm dating back to the 1940s.
The estate vineyard plots here feature dramatic changes in elevation and an array of microclimates suitable for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The site is cooler than those found on the south side of the hills.
The Bishop Creek Estate Vineyard is located in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. It has 13.5 planted acres (5.5ha), 11 of which are planted to four different clones of Pinot Noir. Most vines were planted in 1988 and 1990 and are ungrafted (own their own roots). Altitude varies from 270 to 600ft (82 to 183m). Rows maily run north-south.
Viticulture and winemaking
All fruit come from vineyards which are organic, biodynamic and/or LIVE certified for sustainability, and is harvested and sorted by hand. Fermentations are spontaneous with ambient native yeasts, and all wines are vinified and bottled at the estate, unfined and unfiltered.
Wine portfolio
Bishop Creek, Momtazi and Nysa single-vineyard bottlings are only released to wine club members. A Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is the most diverse and broad Pinot Noir release in terms of vineyard sources, while L'Ensemble is a selection of the best blocks and barrels. The Own-Rooted cuvée showcases ungrafted Pinot Noir from three old vineyards.
White wines include two Chardonnays; Affinités and Bishop Creek single vineyard. Fleur Blanche is a white wine made from Pinot Noir, and L'Alliance Blanc is a 50/50 Chardonnay - Pinot Gris blend. The Pink Vinyl Pinot Noir Rosé completes the portfolio.