Colere Fractal Marlborough Pinot Noir 2020 $60 
Paired with Annabel Langbein’s – Mushroom Risotto recipe in the NZ Herald Canvas Magazine Aug 12 2023.
If you’re considering pairing anything other than pinot noir with a mushroom risotto then I’m afraid we can’t be friends. Just jokes. But not really. In fact I’d urge you toward the deliciously dark, weighty, woolly and wild, unfined, unfiltered Fractal by winemaker Julian Richards. Organically grown, 100% whole bunch fermented and roaring with rhubarb and tamarillo tones, exotic spices and smoky, earthy complexity, it is, as the label of stars, moons, wizards and wild herbs suggests, a mysteriously magical wine.
From the winery: 100% whole bunch fermentation, this wine’s creation comes about by one subtle change in technique, simply the draining of the tank! After the free run wine for the Ashmore Vineyard Pinot Noir was drained off the skins and sent to its new home, this separate component was left to gently filter through the weight of its skins overnight, finding its own path and picking up the final elements of the stems, skins and seeds. This percolation concentrates the tannins, broadens the pallet and shifts the tannins back. This wine is as much about richness as it is about concentration and boldness. Ashmore vineyard (Dog Point) is one of the oldest privately established vineyards in Marlborough with first plantings in the late 1970s. The property is planted to chardonnay, pinot noir and sauvignon blanc, grown under certified Biogro organic farming. The soils have been laid down within the last 14,000 years carved and eroded by glaciers in the high country and carried down to the coast by melt-water rivers. Ashmore is located at the confluence of the smaller Brancott and Omaka valleys, a part of the sub-region of Marlborough known as the Southern Valleys.
Gold medal – Dish Magazine, The best Pinot Noirs in New Zealand 2023. “Classically cloudy from not being fined or filtered, this organically grown tamarillo-scented pinot boasts pure, uninhibited roast rhubarb flavours that are restless and looking to dance. Expertly handled astringency lurks on the insides of your upper lip through fine-grained, grippy tannins. For the adventurous”.
