Ten minutes apart, and expressions of terroir worthy of Burgundy
TMBT's fabulous 2015 Pinots and Chardonnays
Golly, we enjoyed these wines. Australia may have made its name in wine terms with the big, the bold, and the brash, but from the cool, sea-facing heights of the Mornington Peninsula come the elegant, Burgundy-challenging wines of Ten Minutes by Tractor. Their story begins in the 1990s with a few Mornington Peninsula winegrowers experimenting with different sites in pursuit of the best fruit, before amalgamating into one winery. The first official vintage was 2000. In 2003, new owner Martin Spedding stepped in when he discovered his favourite Mornington winery on sale. Low profile then, the winery has gone on to become cult.
They are firm believers not only in terroir, but also that Pinot Noir and Chardonnay communicate or amplify differences in terroir more clearly than other varieties. Their vineyards may only be ten minutes by tractor apart from each other (hence, of course, the name, even if a little speeding may be involved) but the differences between them do come across clearly in the wines. Judd is the steepest, highest vineyard. West-facing, it gets the afternoon sun and heat and tends to produce the most generous style. McCutcheon faces east, avoiding the strongest sun, and tends to produce the most mineral, long-lived wines.Downhill to the north, with northern exposure, Coolart Road is the lowest, warmest vineyard. Pinot responds well here, and since 2012 it has been 100% Pinot Noir.
Mornington Peninsula is now internationally lauded for producing much of Australia's finest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It isn't quite all Burgundian. Where in Burgundy rain spreads itself more evenly throughout the year, on the peninsula they have more winter and spring rains and then drier summers. But then, that works well with the retentive basalt soils, where in Burgundy limestone soils drain faster. Winemaker Sandro Mosele is new to Ten Minutes by Tractor, but has been making wines on Mornington Peninsula for 15 years, and says the conditions in 2015 were the best he has ever seen there. /NT
Offered subject to remaining unsold; available June 2017
