Ten Minutes By Tractor McCutcheon Pinot Noir 2021

Another low-alcohol Mornington Peninsula Pinot that looks riper than the numbers suggest (in a good way). The McCutcheon vineyard is the highest of the Ten Minutes By Tractor plots and has an easterly aspect. It’s a toss-up whether I prefer the Judd or McCutcheon wines typically, although usually, it’s the coiled power of the McCutcheon Chardonnay that wins my heart, and Judd for Pinot Noir. Anyway, I’m digressing. This Ten Minutes By Tractor McCutcheon Pinot Noir 2021 is still only a light wine, with a nose of bacon bits, raspberry, rhubarb and a sheen of vanilla oak. But light and low alcohol don’t mean unwelcoming wine – the palate is fine-boned, with tomato juice, cranberry and lamb juices edge giving a Pinot Noir of some grace and sinew. It’s so Pinoty, and such an interesting and enjoyable wine, if still svelte.

Best drinking: good now, likely better in 2-3 years. It’s not going anywhere, but I’d still drink this style younger. 18.5/20, 94/100. 12.5%, $86. Ten Minutes By Tractor website. Would I buy it? Yes, but with the caveat that I have done some work for 10X before and will always have a place in my heart for the wines.