Talking Oregon Wine With a Music Industry Veteran
I had the opportunity to sit and sip with I.R.S Records and Nicolas-Jay winery founder Jay Boberg. It was pretty cool. When your passions converge, you sit back and enjoy it.
When I worked as a music journalist starting in the late ‘90s, there were names you heard and when you heard them, you knew they were legendary. Not the musicians. That was obvious. These folks were behind the scenes — managers, publicists, promoters, journalists. One of those names was Jay Boberg. I didn’t know him, but I knew his name. He started I.R.S. Records with Miles Copeland III, the manager for the Police. Together they signed and launched the careers of R.E.M., the Go-Gos, the Bangles, Berlin, English Beat, Fine Young Cannibals, Oingo Boingo, and more. He went on to be president of MCA Records, where he helped propel the careers of Mary J. Blige, Sublime, Blink-182, and the Roots. He told me he also signed Sigur Ros, which is pretty damn cool.
Fast forward to today — or two months ago. I got an email from a publicist working with Nicolas-Jay, a winery in Oregon’s Dundee Hills area of the Willamette Valley. Nicolas-Jay focuses on Burgundian-style pinot noir and chardonnay, with grapes sourced from dry farmed, organic, and biodynamic vineyards (and they recently started planting their own vineyards). Its founders are Jean-Nicolas Méo and … wait for it … Jay Boberg. The email said Jay would be in Chicago and is a fan of my music and wine writing (I took that with a grain of salt) and wanted to meet up with me. I quickly replied yes.
OK, now fast forward to today. Or Tuesday. I met Jay, now 10 years into this growing boutique award-winning winery that produces elegant, beautiful wines (I wrote about their fantastic Pink Vinyl rosé earlier this year). We originally planned to have dinner, but his schedule got a bit hectic so we met at his friend’s place in Fulton Market to taste the 2021 Affinités chardonnay, a lovely flinty, acid- and mineral-driven chard with notes of lemon, peachiness, some herbs and that crisp just-rained essence. It’s very much done in that Old World style — a sign of what quality chardonnay can do in Oregon. Move over Napa.
We had an hour before Jay headed to a private dinner at Next for local members of their wine club, which they call a confrérie to tie back to traditions in Burgundy. Jay said this will be the first of dinners like these, with others rolling out in cities across the country. So here is part of our conversation, where we discussed the 10-year anniversary of Nicolas-Jay, his passion for Oregon wine, the promise of chardonnay in that region, the music industry, and more.
Chatting wine and music with Jay Boberg
So this is your 10th anniversary, isn't it? This year
Jay Boberg: This'll be our 10th harvest
How does that feel?
JB: It feels rewarding. We're just going into harvest, so I'm a little bit of the mind of worrying about rain and worrying about brix and pH and things like that, so it's hard to sort of separate it out. But the fact that we, Jean-Nicolas and I had an idea, or I had an idea and Jean-Nicolas bought into that idea and agreed to partner up and go on a journey. The fact that the journey is still going 10 years later and we have had at least enough modicum of success to still be here and be profitable, albeit reinvesting that profit all the time into planting more vineyards and buying more barrels and all the things that you do when you have a winery. I think there's a lot to be grateful for.
Absolutely. What surprises you the most of the last 10 years that, looking back other than that, you're still here?
JB: What surprises me the most? I guess a combination of the good news and the bad news. The good news is I'm quite surprised and quite pleased to know how many of the people I interact with on a daily basis that make up the wine community — the sommeliers, the shop owners, the other winemakers, the people that are in the industry, the farmers — about how many of those people are truly authentically passionate about what they do and that, yeah, it's their job and yeah, they're making a living or trying to make a living at it, but they are genuinely love it.
That has been a very, very pleasant surprise and something that I'm really thrilled about. Those are the kind of people that on these limited days we have on this earth that I would choose to be with and work with. On the bad side of it is that I also have been surprised at how many people in kind positions of power, if you will, in the wine business, whether they be on the distribution side or even on the buying side, just don't treat people necessarily very well and are not respectful of other people's time.
Well. But I think you could say that for every industry., I mean, the music industry, it's full of that.
JB: The music industry is worse than the wine industry, I'd like to point out for sure. At least it was when I was in it.
Do you draw comparisons between the two, between music and wine? You spent 30 years in music. When you were making that transition, what are some things you saw similarities or differences you wanted to bring over or step away from music to wine?
JB: There are many similarities between both making wine and making music and then selling and marketing wine and selling and marketing music. They both are, for the most part, emotional decisions that a consumer makes. There's some fact-based elements that go into it, but for the most part, it's about something that connects with you in some way. So the vibe and the feel and the energy and all these things around it are really important to people making a connection. I also think there are similarities in that when people really become committed to a wine or a winery, it's much like being committed to a band because there's a lot of self-identification in both. You fall in love with Dance Hall Crashers or you fall in love with Sublime because you see a bit of yourself in those lyrics or the band members themselves or certain things about it.
And I think that you fall in love with a winery because the winery has a certain ethos and a style of doing business — a taste, not just flavor, but in terms of branding and approach. It has a lot to do with world community values, being conscious of the environment and conscious of farming that you see in yourself as an individual. Even if you're not a farmer, you want to support and respect so you identify with a winery in those ways. So I think there's a surprising and maybe uniquely large number of similarities between the two.
What are some of the ethos that Nicholas-Jay has that you think attracts people to your label versus just how good the wine is?
JB: Assuming …
They like the wine? [laughs]
JB: Yeah, we've had pretty good success with people liking the wine. People have often asked Jean-Nicola and I what style of wine or the market you're aiming for? We're simply trying to make wine we want to drink. I think that very decision and the fact that we partnered together after drinking wine together for some 30 years and having very similar palates and most often liking the same things. He's not a huge fan of chenin blanc. I particularly love chenin blanc. He's a big fan of the Jura wines. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of that oxidized style; it's not my thing.
Other than a couple of things like that, if you laid out five bottles of wine on a counter and the two of us tasted all five, we'd most likely pick the same one as our favorite. So I think that we're trying to make wines we want to drink, that is what people pick up on. It leads to a level of authenticity that connects with people. As we evolve, we're constantly trying to improve the wine and our farming and improve everything we do in the process.
Talk about your process.
JB: We have an element we call vine to vat. What it really means is the grapes, which they're in this state right now actually as we do this interview, are in this perfect pristine condition hanging on the vine just as they get to the perfect ripening. We're sampling these vines now every other day, and we'll make that decision to pick them. And when they get picked, we want to make sure those grapes make it into the vat in the same condition as when they were hanging on the vine. It sounds like a very simple thing, but it's not. These vineyards are spread clear across the Willamette Valley. They have to be picked, they have to be put into bins. We have chosen to use cherry bins, which are these very thin, shallow bins that don't allow grapes to be stacked on top of each other so they don't get bruised and they don't start to break, and the juice starts to oxidize ahead of time.
We then have to get them back to the winery and then go through a whole process of sorting them and just getting them into the vat. And so every year we try to improve that vine-to-vat process to make them better. I think all these little things we do to try to make the wine more pure and more reflective of what is hanging on those vines today.
Willamette is obviously known for world-class pinot noir, and you started with that and then started making chardonnay 2018. What made you want to start doing chard as well, and what do you think it is about Oregon chardonnay that really has a chance to stand out on a global scale versus Napa?
JB: I think one of the things the pioneers in Oregon — and as you know, Oregon's a very young wine region in the sense that it was really in the late ‘60s, and frankly not until the ‘80s and ‘90s that Oregon got any kind of real scale — they did a hell of a job of defining themselves as the place that makes super high-quality pinot noir. There were a lot of comparisons that it’s on the same latitude as Burgundy and the climate and so forth. I think some people planted chardonnay because of the Burgundy connection, but they tended to plant the California clones.
I don't know if it's simply a matter of the development of different climate and temperature changes, but what happened for us is we discovered some chardonnay vines and some vineyards that were planted later using Dijon clones that ripened much earlier. My experience with chardonnay from Oregon in the ‘80s and ‘90s and even early 2000s was that most of it didn't get ripe, and I didn't much care for it stylistically. Then it started to change. They focused on the clones that they planted and the way that they made the wine in the Burgundian style that has now started to create a real following. And our chardonnay, which really started from us buying a vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton area called Bishop Creek, that had a few acres of pinot gris planted at the top of the hill, which we chose not to make in those first few years.
We grafted over that pinot gris and started with our chardonnay with really the ‘18 vintage. It was really the ‘18 vintage where those plants, those grafts and everything had come around to the point where we were able to do it. We are now also planting chardonnay at our new estate that we purchased the land in 2019, and planted the chardonnay two years ago.
How big is the new estate? How many acres do you have planted?
JB: We only have four acres planted so far. The estate itself is 52 acres. It's on the north side of the Dundee Hills, a place where 30 or 40 years ago, the pioneers would've said, “You're nuts and nothing's ever going to get ripe over there.” As we know, things are getting warmer, so being on the north side, we looked at as an advantage. We will eventually plant 22 to 24 acres, something in that range.
Talk about what we’re tasting here.
JB: The 2021 Affinités you're drinking, in my opinion, is the best chardonnay we've made. We've just gotten better at it and understanding what we're doing. If there's a bar graph of the style of chardonnay with flinty, mineral-driven Chablis on one end and an oakier, richer sort of old school California on the other end, we are firmly in the Chablis camp. And again, these are the types of chardonnays Jean-Nicolas and I like to drink. What we're trying to make, it's relatively low alcohol. We don't pick as early as some do in Oregon and not as early as many do in Burgundy. We want to have fruit, but we are looking for that tension. We're looking for that purity. We're looking for the minerality and really reflection of the place, which I think we get at this point.
Quick-fire Round With Jay Boberg
I know we only have a few minutes. I want to do quickfire. So these are just quick answers. Coming from the music industry, what are your favorite bands historically?
JB: This is not so quick to answer, but I would say of the bands I was involved in, certainly R.E.M. is not only a band that I just love to death, but they're people I love to death. I'm so proud of what they did and what we all did together, and the fact that we kind of had the will and the persistence to carve out an audience for them. Now everybody talks about R.E.M, like, oh yeah, they're these huge superstars. At the beginning it was tough for everybody involved. It was not easy. And so I'm very, very proud of them.
There’s also a very special connection to Chicago. They played the very first show at the Metro, which is super cool.
JB: Yes, they did. Yeah. And then other bands for me Peter Gabriel, Steely Dan, Everything But The Girl.
Have you heard their new music?
JB: Yes, so good.
What are some favorite bands today in new music?
JB: There's this young woman named Jensen McRae who has, I think, a six-song EP out. She has a great voice and her lyrics come from a point of view from a woman that is poignant and powerful and important. “Dead Girl Walking” & “Wolves” are my favorites.
Who is the coolest musician you've ever worked with? Sting would come to mind potentially.
JB: Sting's a cool guy for sure, but I think he's more, he'll probably give me a dirty look by saying this. I think he's more talented than he is cool. I mean, he's cool because he's Sting. I don't know. Not to say he's not a cool guy. Who was the coolest musician? I never got to work with her and I tried to sign her desperately for the longest time. But Ani DeFranco is a super cool lady. I mean, extremely cool and with a worldview and just super intelligent and I think really, really an amazing person.
Right on. What's your favorite wine region, maybe other than Willamette? Or is Willamette your favorite wine region?
JB: No, I mean it has to be Burgundy.
What wine region or grape varietal do you think deserves more attention right now? Anything that's emerging that you've kind of been turned onto that you think is really awesome?
JB: Chenin Blanc from the Loire.
Do you have a favorite restaurant anywhere, like a place that you would go back to again and again?
JB: Chez Panisse in Berkeley,
Upstairs or downstairs?
JB: Upstairs, yeah. The cafe. Downstairs is awesome, but the upstairs cafe …
It's so special.
JB: Very special.
Thankfully I got to eat there three times when I lived in San Francisco. What's a favorite guilty pleasure?
JB: My favorite guilty pleasure is having 10 friends over for dinner and firing up the pizza oven and raiding the cellar, and starting cooking at four in the afternoon and falling into sleep at one in the morning as everybody leaves fairly drunk.
And what's your favorite pizza to make and wine to pair with it?
JB: Favorite pizza to make is simple and wine to pair with is, believe it or not, probably pinot noir. Either that or zinfandel.
Do you have a favorite vacation destination, either that you've been to or you dream of going
JB: Paris.
Where I assume you've been many times. Any favorite recent shows that you've streamed or binged?
JB: “Fauda” is super good. I mean, it's troubling. Yeah,
What's a standout concert?
JB: Leonard Cohen at Radio City.
Wow. Deep cut. I just saw Brandi Carlile at Ravinia last week. She's incredible.
JB: My daughter went to the Brandi Carlile/Joni Mitchell show at the Gorge.
I just got chills.
JB: I said to Juliette, do you have any idea how lucky … I mean, you will remember that when you're 70.
Obviously you've accomplished a lot in your life. Do you have any unfulfilled goals or dreams that you still want to put your stamp on?
JB: I think I've been very fortunate that I've been involved effectively in two professions. And the fact I was able to make them professions is what I'm most grateful for. And those are both areas of wine and music that I have very deep-seated, genuine passion for. So having wine and music — now I guess I can say I've done it in two areas.
SG List — Things I’m high fiving this week
DHLC's organizing help on Intro
Need organizational tips? Looking for the best date outfits? Want to know how to style your family for holiday cards? Hit up Drew Harris on Intro and book a session to get his expert insight on styling and organizing. OK fine, maybe this is nepotism, but can’t a guy brag about his awesome husband?
Wine of the week: Weinhaus Schlossmuhlenhof 2020 Das Ist Keine Orange
If you’re curious about orange wine, this is your gateway bottle. A blend of müller-thurgau, riesling, pinot gris, and sankt laurent, it’s suuuuper fresh! I love that you get more fruit in the mouth than bitterness or tannin. It’s reminiscent of light orange juice (or even orange water) with nectarines, grapefruit, and fresh pineapple.
Foxtrot’s Chicago Style Hot Dog Chips WHUT?!?!
Just before Labor Day Weekend, Foxtrot just dropped its latest thing I know I’m going to eat way too many of: Chicago Style Hot Dog Chips. All the flavor minus the nitrite-filled hot dog.
Whole Foods 365 Strawberry Kefir
I’ve been drinking kefir for years, generally Lifeway or sometimes the Trader Joe’s brand (which I suspect Lifeway makes). At Whole Foods the other day I grabbed their house brand kefir. I’m not lying when I say this tastes like a milkshake made with freshly picked strawberries. So flavorful, thicker, delicious — and filled with probiotics. Great morning swig before I walk the pup.
Loved this interview! Self-identification with wine and music is spot ON 🫶🏻