In early 2004, together with his life and business partner Karen, Martin Spedding learned the three families of Mornington’s Ten Minutes by Tractor had decided to sell.
“Within weeks, we owned the brand, a few hundred cases and dozen barrels of wine, and a lease of the Judd, Wallis and McCutcheon Vineyards,” Martin recalls. There was also a tin shed with plastic awnings serving as a cellar door.
Karen and Martin Spedding at Ten Minutes by Tractor.
Their first priorities were to make changes in the vineyards, find a permanent home for the winery and transition the winemaking in-house. So, 5.84 hectares were removed and replanted from the three leased vineyards, and that amount again for subsequently acquired or leased vineyards. On the other side, new blocks were planted, and others grafted. Today there are 40 hectares spread across nine vineyards, 36 of chardonnay and pinot noir certified organic.
In the first decade of ownership, they opened a cellar door and restaurant on Mornington-Flinders Road, developed and shelved various plans for a new winery (after inspecting 100 wineries in various parts of the world), and purchased the McCutcheon and Coolart Road vineyards. The duo started a new business, which Karen managed (with two former colleagues) until daughter Addie was born. At this point, Martin took over, working seven days a week running the two businesses, with intensive commuting and travel.
I have no doubt the menus, wine, glassware, service and ambience entitle the Ten Minutes by Tractor restaurant to three Michelin stars.
Ten Minutes by Tractor's brand new cellar door, which opened just as Covid hit in March 2020.
The design, construction and opening of a new restaurant and cellar door was an altogether different story, bedevilled by the council and Covid-19. “Our overriding desire was to reopen as quickly as possible so we wouldn’t lose the 20-odd staff who had worked onsite,” Martin says. The team had been responsible for winning eight significant restaurant awards between 2008 and 2017. The target was a re-build permit by mid-2018, but that also proved problematic. “We didn’t realise we’d be treated as a completely new build/development with imposed preconditions that we build a new kerbed and guttered 50-space carpark, lighted pathways, a new stormwater drainage system with huge water catchment tanks, an additional turning lane to supplement the first built in 2006, and a waste-water treatment plant, including a 400,000-litre holding tank.”
The restaurant, which Halliday believes is on par with three-star restaurants of France.
In 1982, thanks to a wildly favourable exchange rate, I went to 13 Michelin three-star restaurants in one 12-day stretch through France. It’s a long time ago, but my recollection of the special qualities of such restaurants remains fresh in my memory. I have no doubt the menus, wine, glassware, service and ambience entitle the Ten Minutes by Tractor restaurant to three stars. This has been achieved by head-hunting four chefs who have remained employed throughout the recent dark days and months. English-born executive chef Adam Sanderson joined in September 2017, and Hayden Ellis is head chef; Heston Blumenthal and The Fat Duck feature somewhere in the background of both. Two other chefs stayed the distance by working in the vineyards over this time. Another theme was the Petit Tracteur Bistro in Main Ridge, opened in early 2016 and closing last October, where parts of the team worked at various times.
This article appears in issue #60 of Halliday magazine. Become a member and get digital access to the magazine.