2023 Ten Minutes by Tractor Coolart Rd D Block Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula

From a single block on the Coolart Road vineyard in Main Ridge, this Pinot Noir sits at the heart of Ten Minutes by Tractor’s identity. The estate was founded by three families whose vineyards were famously ten minutes apart, and it has grown into one of Mornington Peninsula’s most exacting producers. Today the style is guided by winemaker Martin Spedding, whose philosophy centres on block by block expression and patient, detail obsessed viticulture. D Block is a cool, sheltered parcel planted to low yielding vines that ripen slowly, building perfume and fine structure rather than size.

The vineyard is farmed with obsessive precision, with multiple passes through the block to harvest at perfect balance. In the cellar, fruit is handled gently to protect aromatics. A measured portion of whole bunch fermentation adds spice and architecture, and maturation in fine French oak refines the tannins without masking the site. The wine is built to age, shaped more by structure than sweetness.

Bright ruby in colour, the aromas open with red cherry, wild strawberry and cranberry layered with rose petal, Chinese five spice and forest floor. The palate is medium bodied and tightly framed, with vivid red fruit carried by crisp acidity and fine, powdery tannins. Flavours expand through the mid palate before narrowing into a long, savoury finish with a mineral edge.

It pairs beautifully with duck, quail, mushroom dishes and delicate game. While already compelling with air, it will cellar confidently for twelve to fifteen years, developing earthy and truffle complexity.

This is Mornington Peninsula Pinot at single block resolution, precise, perfumed and deeply site driven.

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