Ten Minutes by Tractor, Judd Chardonnay, Mornington Peninsula 2018 - 75cl

Ten Minutes by Tractor takes its name from the drive between the three founding vineyards, and the Judd is the one that makes serious Chardonnay drinkers sit up. Planted high on the Main Ridge in the cool heart of the Mornington Peninsula, it gives a wine built on tension rather than tropical fruit — the Australian answer to a good village Meursault, made by a team who plainly know their Burgundy.

The Peninsula juts into the cold water south of Melbourne, and that maritime chill is the whole point. Grapes ripen slowly, holding their acidity, and the 2018 was a kind, even growing season that gave fruit of lovely purity. Winemaking is deliberately hands-off — wild yeast fermentation in French oak barrels, a good stretch on lees for texture — so the vineyard, not the cellar, gets the last word.

Expect a pale lemon-gold wine with a nose of grapefruit pith, white peach, a lick of struck flint and a nutty, almost oatmeal note from the lees work. The palate is where it earns its keep: green apple bite, a fine chalky texture that coats the mouth, and a saline thread pulling it long. The oak is there for scaffolding, never flavour. It closes dry, cool and persistent, with real drive. This is a Chardonnay for people who thought they'd gone off Chardonnay — sommelier bait, and rightly so.

How to Serve

Serve at 10–12°C — too cold and you'll mute the texture. Use a white Burgundy glass. No decant required, but it unfolds nicely over an hour, so don't rush the bottle.

Where to Drink It

The River Cafe, where the Italian cooking flatters cool-climate whites. J Sheekey, over a plate of Dover sole. Dandy in Newington Green, if you'd rather drink it somewhere that lists wines like this by the glass.

Food Pairings

Seared scallops with a brown-butter sauce are the obvious call, and the obvious call is right. If you want to push it, a roast poussin with lemon and thyme lets the wine's texture shine.