This was published 1 year ago
Ten Minutes by Tractor, Mornington Peninsula: The lunch that keeps on giving
There are five courses plus a few smart little appetisers.Credit: Zoe Eley
Lunch is the most important meal of the day. Forget what you've heard about breakfast – it's just a basic meal with good PR. Lunch is where it's at.
Yes, we in Australia are all obsessed with brunch and that really is great. Dinner is fine and good. And we've discussed the cliche about breakfast. But lunch is the star.
Case in point: Ten Minutes by Tractor in the Mornington Peninsula, about an hour south of Melbourne. You could book dinner at this winery and restaurant, and it would be superb. But don't do that. Book lunch. And then don't book anything else for the rest of the day.
Another reason lunch beats breakfast: You can't have wine at breakfast.Credit: Zoe Eley
You see, for people who love to eat and drink and relax and appreciate, lunch is the ultimate. You can drink wine at lunch, something that's socially unacceptable at breakfast, and a finite arrangement at dinner.
You can enjoy beautiful views at lunch, which can't be said for a later meal. You can relax at lunch safe in the knowledge that there's no time limit or imperative, no bed to get to for a decent next day, no worry about going to sleep on a full stomach, no other appointments or responsibilities.
The afternoon stretches out before you. There's a reason the Italians and the Spanish and the Portuguese and the Greeks – undeniable masters of gastronomic good times – are obsessed with the concept of the long lunch, when they do all of their celebratory eating and drinking.
It's a a long and languidly paced feast.Credit: Zoe Eley
And so I find myself at Ten Minutes by Tractor for lunch. A few days ago I booked transfers from my accommodation, just nearby, with a local driver called David, and told him the drop-off was at 1.30pm, and pick-up would be 4.30pm. He'd scoffed.
"You haven't had lunch at Ten Minutes by Tractor before, have you?"
I admitted I hadn't.
"You'll be longer than that. Just call me when you're ready."
Longer than three hours? This is my kind of lunch.
Ten Minutes by Tractor – the three original vineyards, planted in 1999, are 10 minutes' tractor ride apart – has been through a lot in recent years. In February 2018, a fire destroyed the tasting room and restaurant, along with 16,000 bottles of wine in the cellar. And then along came the pandemic, forcing closures and lost revenue.
But this Mornington stalwart continues to rage against the dying of the light, courtesy of a complete rebuild and rethink, to once again be the venue for lunches that rage similarly against the end of the day.
The dining room is beautifully light-filled even on this cold, misty day, with vines and gum trees framed like landscape paintings by large windows. We're shown to a table and handed menus, though there are no decisions to make, because the dishes are set, five courses plus a few smart little appetisers.
And so begins a long and languidly paced feast, beginning with those appetisers, the most perfect little bites you've ever seen, featuring salmon roe and bone marrow and salted butter. Then comes an apple, macadamia and cheese dish that looks like a mossy garden; bonito, fresh and clean; delicate marron with foraged mushrooms and guanciale; roasted lamb with a gelatinous bubble of consomme; crisp-skinned duck breast with cherries; and a playful take on lamingtons for dessert.
And yes, that's actually six courses, because the marron was an optional extra we just couldn't say no to.
And the wine. Ten Minutes by Tractor isn't one of those wineries that insists on pouring its own drops. There are wines here from around Australia and the world, rare, sought after, delicious. You can go by glass or bottle, or allow the team to pair wines with each course, an experience that begins at $125 a person for a retrospective of house wines, and goes up to $525 a head for "rare finds".
Incredible. Perfect for savouring over many hours, as we do.
Eventually we have to leave our table and shift to the bar, because, we're told, "we have dinner bookings arriving". It's that sort of lunch.
Ben Groundwater visited at his own expense.
THE DETAILS
Ten Minutes by Tractor (1333 Mornington-Flinders Road, Main Ridge, VIC) is open for lunch Thursdays and Sundays, and for lunch and dinner Fridays and Saturdays. Five-course tasting menus cost $175. See tenminutesbytractor.com.au
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