Description
The Winery started in 1997 with 3 family owned vineyards in Main Ridge, all Ten Minutes by Tractor apart. Over the past two decades, Martin and Karen Spedding have added four more vineyards from a diverse range of microclimates from across the Mornington Peninsula.
Each vineyard shows a unique sense of place and Terroir as the differences in aspect, slope, soil, altitude and maritime influence give each site their particular characters. Ten Minutes by Tractor has solidified themselves amongst some of the most sought after producers of the Mornington Peninsula along with arguably some of the best single vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir bottlings in Australia.
The cool climate Mornington Peninsula is internationally recognised for producing some of Australia’s finest examples of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Almost half of the vines are Pinot Noir, followed closely by Chardonnay. There are currently over 200 vineyards, 60 wineries and at least 50 cellar doors. Most are concentrated around Red Hill, Red Hill South and Main Ridge, with clusters at Moorooduc and Tuerong, Balnarring and Merricks.
There are no official sub regions of the Mornington peninsula, though locally there is a clear understanding of the differences in what the local vignerons refer to as ‘up the hill’ and ‘down the hill’ – in elevation, aspect, temperature, rainfall and soils which result in significant difference in harvest dates and the style of wine produced across the region.
This difference is summarised perfectly in the fact that all the Main Ridge Pinot Noir is harvested an average of 23 days later than ‘Down the Hill’ at our Coolart Road vineyard.
In the Vineyards the focus is an unrelenting effort to grow the best fruit possible with meticulous care of our Premium blocks. Observing and managing the requirements of each vine and the fruit that is produced ensures they maintain healthy and balanced vines throughout the growing season and produce fruit with has the flavour, balance, and complexity in which we aspire to.
The Cultivation of vineyard soils and use of sustainable vineyard practices are central to their vineyard management philosophy, that preserves and promotes the natural terroir of their vineyards and produces superior wines.
Newer vineyard plantings of the Spedding and Gabrielle vineyards are at high density to promote interrow competition and drive root systems deeper into the soils, promoting smaller bunches, berries and quality. Their low intervention approach uses natural and traditional processes to enhance complexity, elegance and balance in our wines, this includes the use of indigenous yeasts throughout all their wines. Their wines are bottled under screw cap to prevent cork tant and random oxidation and to preserve the pristine character of our wines.
About this wine from the winemakers: Higher than average rainfall during flowering and over the course of the season resulted in lower yields on all sites. Flavour and sugar development were prolonged, resulting in more hang time, greater intensity, and drive.
Vineyards – Coolart Road (78%), Capella (17%), Mihaly (5%). Clones: MV6 (70%), Abel (25%), 777 (5%)
Handpicked and hand sorted and (mostly) destemmed (with some whole bunch used in separate parcels). Fermented in a mixture of concrete and stainless steel fermenters. A cold soak for 4-5 days before a wild yeast fermentation with an average of 16 days on skins. The wine was then pressed to tank and racked to barrel keeping all the individual parcels separate, where they underwent natural malolactic fermentation. Aged in a combination of old and new puncheons and barriques.
Baked cherry and a floral lift jump from the glass. Compote, ripe cranberry and raspberry carry through on the palate with a savoury backbone driven by graphite and clove spice. Earthy tannins bind the wine together, finishing with length and persistence.
The 2023 ‘Down the Hill’ Pinot Noir highlights the sub regional differences between Main ridge fruit and those from lower elevations. Earthy and Dark fruited Pinot Noir sourced from the Estates Coolart Road vineyard as well as the Mihaly vineyard (Merricks).
95 points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review “Medium-deep ruby with subtle traces of purple in the rim; the bouquet has a complex array of red cherry, raspberry, stony mineral and five spice aromas, the palate intense and rich with concentration and fleshy extract aplenty, the tannins smooth and ample throughout the length of the palate. An excellent and quite densely packed pinot noir.”
RRP $73 Our Special Price $58.99 when you buy 6 or more of this wine
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