Flaneur Cuvee Constantin Pinot Noir 2021

Epitomizing what makes 2021 so special, this has such intensity of flavor–as the winery says, loud even–with such vividly low alcohol and buoyancy. It is the vintage, pure and not-so simple, because it’s hard to achieve that near-mythical marriage. There’s a lot going on here, mixing red and blueberries and cherries, orange-studded dark chocolate, and savory/truffle-y whole-cluster accents. For whatever complexity lies within, this is a big goblet full of decadent pleasure Pinot but–see above–all in the package of a sub-13% abv Pinot Noir. No Cali-masquerading Pinot here! Seriously, PLEASE open this now because it’s such a delicious drinker. “Cuvee Constantin is a very personal wine to me. It encompasses all the things I love in wines I drink from other people: whole cluster notes, richness of texture, something that will unfold layers over a meal. That’s the process I’m looking for in the cellar–how can I marry the different components to create a vision of the wines I really like to