Ten Minutes By Tractor, “Down the Hill” Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula (AUS) 2022
Ten Minutes By Tractor, “Down the Hill” Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula (AUS) 2022
by sid_loves_wine
3 Comments
sid_loves_wine
My first Pinot from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia – more or less the last major Pinot-focused region in the world that I had yet to sample up to this point, so a bit of a personal victory! Scored this for like $25 on WineBid, an absolute steal (and very solid QPR for the usual listed approx price, also.)
No decant, slowly followed it over about 12 hours. A little matchstick reduction at first which mostly blew off pretty quickly. Very vibrant and red-fruited, but with a sappy glazed quality, raspberry/cherry candy and some rooty earthy tones. Fantastic little weight to it with really excellent acidity, lots of energy without any tartness.
Definitely filled out a little bit as time went on, not really veering into dark-fruit territory but showing more of that sappy raspberry liqueur-like quality. Really beautiful root beer spices and fantastic fresh acid. The reduction MOSTLY fully blew off but it hung on just a bit, giving it a notable sort of fresh mint pungency. 13% ABV, really elegant.
Comparing it to something from home, it reminded me a LOT of the Pinot Noirs from Walter Scott, a trendy Oregon producer who is mostly known for chards, and usually their reds are also made using a heavily reductive style, but still somehow work really well. If I’m comparing my experiences with their bottles around the same price points, I barely preferred the 10X by Tractor, as the reductive aspect was much more dialed-in and left more room for the fruit and terroir. The texture really stood out to me, love when a Pinot has that kind of thick, glazed feel but with ZERO sense of heaviness, just perfect extraction levels.
Definitely felt like the kind of bottle that wanted another 3 or so years also, tbh. It was delicious, just could use some extra air to expand. Might decant next time also.
lawrotzr
That screwcap just hurts. I’m sure it’s a nice wine, I just can’t take it seriously any more.
iThinkiAteMrKrabs
Loved this producer when I visited them though I slightly preferred the up the hill. I’d say Mornington is in between Sonoma and Willamette Valley. Maybe closer to Sonoma but not quite as much in the juicy fruit direction. More earthy but not quite as much as WV. I’d also say Walter Scott is firmly more reductive and less fruit dominant being out in Eola Amity. Maybe Dundee Hills like Archery Summit is closer to their style for me. Been trying to find bottles but tough to track down. Cheers either way!
3 Comments
My first Pinot from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia – more or less the last major Pinot-focused region in the world that I had yet to sample up to this point, so a bit of a personal victory! Scored this for like $25 on WineBid, an absolute steal (and very solid QPR for the usual listed approx price, also.)
No decant, slowly followed it over about 12 hours. A little matchstick reduction at first which mostly blew off pretty quickly. Very vibrant and red-fruited, but with a sappy glazed quality, raspberry/cherry candy and some rooty earthy tones. Fantastic little weight to it with really excellent acidity, lots of energy without any tartness.
Definitely filled out a little bit as time went on, not really veering into dark-fruit territory but showing more of that sappy raspberry liqueur-like quality. Really beautiful root beer spices and fantastic fresh acid. The reduction MOSTLY fully blew off but it hung on just a bit, giving it a notable sort of fresh mint pungency. 13% ABV, really elegant.
Comparing it to something from home, it reminded me a LOT of the Pinot Noirs from Walter Scott, a trendy Oregon producer who is mostly known for chards, and usually their reds are also made using a heavily reductive style, but still somehow work really well. If I’m comparing my experiences with their bottles around the same price points, I barely preferred the 10X by Tractor, as the reductive aspect was much more dialed-in and left more room for the fruit and terroir. The texture really stood out to me, love when a Pinot has that kind of thick, glazed feel but with ZERO sense of heaviness, just perfect extraction levels.
Definitely felt like the kind of bottle that wanted another 3 or so years also, tbh. It was delicious, just could use some extra air to expand. Might decant next time also.
That screwcap just hurts. I’m sure it’s a nice wine, I just can’t take it seriously any more.
Loved this producer when I visited them though I slightly preferred the up the hill. I’d say Mornington is in between Sonoma and Willamette Valley. Maybe closer to Sonoma but not quite as much in the juicy fruit direction. More earthy but not quite as much as WV. I’d also say Walter Scott is firmly more reductive and less fruit dominant being out in Eola Amity. Maybe Dundee Hills like Archery Summit is closer to their style for me. Been trying to find bottles but tough to track down. Cheers either way!