When we buy wines, we are constantly faced with sale people telling us about the elaborate contortions that are gone through in order to create the perfect bottle of wine. This kind of sales pitch leads to all kinds of questions – like what on earth do you mean by perfect?

But it also misses the insights of all those great wine travelers in Europe who went there to discover a simple truth: that great wine doesn’t require anything fancy. It does require good grapes from good terroirs. And it does require that the wine-makers have the right framework in mind when they fashion their wines. If they know what they’re doing, and pay close attention to all the details, then they will make great wine. Maybe even wine that you might call perfect.

And that is pretty much the story of Flaneur Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Flaneur is not a team of pioneers. They came together many years after people already figured out that the terroir of the Willamette Valley was special, especially for Pinot Noir.

Flaneur is, instead, a team of passionate wine lovers who have a vision of wine that is incredibly consistent with our own, and with so many of you. They’re focus is on drinkability. They want us to enjoy their wines without effort, and probably with a meal. They want balance and harmony. They want wine that tastes like where it’s from – in this case, Oregon.

The 2021 Flaneur Pinot Noir is a delightful example of what they produce. It’s Pinot Noir pure and simple, in all its earthy, Oregonian glory, with spicy cherry and raspberry. There is no pretense at trying to be a fancy wine. There is no or very little new oak. All it wants to do is enhance your pleasure. And it does that for a very fair price:

Flaneur Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2021 $29.99