Meet this world-class winemaker on the Pinot Coast wine trail

The land that cuts between Port Phillip Bay and Bass Strait is an abundant one. The diverse landscape of the Mornington Peninsula boasts all sorts of gastronomic treats: from crisp, succulent fruits to creamy, full-flavoured cheeses and earthy mushrooms. But none of these come close to matching the complex and savoury pinot noir the region is famous for. The Mornington Peninsula has become so well-known for the style that it forms part of the new Pinot Coast wine trail, along with Geelong and Gippsland.

It was this pinot that brought Martin Spedding to the Mornington Peninsula. Since 2003, when he took over Ten Minutes by Tractor, Martin has been making award-winning pinot noir in the Mornington Peninsula’s beautiful, sheltered valleys. Ten Minutes by Tractor is one of the most famous wineries along the Pinot Coast wine trail, boasting a Chef Hatted (Australia’s equivalent of a Michelin star) restaurant with one of the best wine lists in Australia.

Spedding nearly didn’t make it to the coast. After spending two years looking for the perfect spot to grow cool-climate wines in Victoria, Tasmania and New Zealand, he found a site in the Yarra Valley with ties to the original St Huberts winery. But the night before he was due to sign the contract he got cold feet and backed out of the sale. “In the end, I felt it wasn’t quite the right site,” he says.

After a few weeks of feeling discouraged, Spedding’s wife Karen dragged him out of the house to go down to the Mornington Peninsula. The couple ended up at the Ten Minutes by Tractor cellar door. “It was a new winery and it had one or two vintages, and I went to the cellar door and started doing what I normally did, which was to ask a lot of questions,” he says. Martin discovered that the three families who owned the vineyard had decided that winegrowing was a little too much of a commitment and they were looking for a buyer.

“Ten days later it was all done,” he says. “I was on the rebound, so to speak.”

In 2006, before the Mornington Peninsula had become the culinary destination it is today, Ten Minutes by Tractor opened its restaurant. “What we were wanting to do was sort of an extension of our cellar door, allowing people who came down and visited us to sit down and enjoy our wines with great food and great local produce,” Spedding says.

The restaurant received its first Chef Hat in 2011 and then received two Chef Hats in 2013. It won a number of other awards, particularly for its extensive wine list that showcased old vintages, rarities and wonders from Mornington Peninsula and beyond.

In February 2018, a terrible fire on the property forced Spedding to close the restaurant. They have spent the last 18 months working on the rebuild and the new restaurant will have a major upgrade. “We’ve got a private dining area, expanded facilities and a new, fantastic kitchen,” Spedding says. “The silver lining is that it’s given us an opportunity to really think about providing a unique experience to people visiting the area.”

The Mornington Peninsula has been a great place to make wine for Spedding, who loves the balance of fruit and more savoury, earthy characters in the wines. “You get wines that are very alluring, with a beautiful broad complexity in the bouquet and, of course, that lovely natural acidity.” He credits the area’s natural topography and soils, and the cool, maritime influence from Port Phillip Bay, Western Port Bay and Bass Strait.

Spedding also loves the camaraderie among vintners on Mornington Peninsula. “We’re all small wine producers, family-owned and there’s a lot of collaboration. I suppose we’re all quite close friends. It makes it a great place to work and do what we do.”