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Ten Minutes by Tractor

Jane Faulkner and Reviewer

Contemporary$$$

No, sorry, we're booked out that night. What about lunch? Sorry, we're full. Frustration rising. How about next Friday, then? You won't believe it (try me), we're fully booked but we have a waiting list. Jeez, what's a city gal gotta do to get a table at a restaurant on the peninsula? For starters, get in very early. OK, summer holidays are in full swing but it's more than that: Ten Minutes by Tractor is one of the most popular places now because this is the new generation of cellar doors-cum-restaurants where wine and food have equal billing. And clearly the word's out.

It's a perfect day for Monday lunch and, despite the drought, the vineyards are lush and luminescent green, providing a wonderful backdrop to the restaurant and cellar door. You won't miss the place as there's an old tractor out front, but the name derives from the time it takes to drive to each vineyard by tractor. Do try the estate wines at the cellar door to the right of the restaurant's entrance: the chardonnays and pinot noirs are among the country's finest and the sauvignon blanc is pretty impressive, too. Then again, you can order them at lunch.

What separates this cellar-door restaurant from most is the wine list. Those confident to choose from the extensive selection will be amazed by the breadth and choice - not just regional offerings but remarkable, fine choices from Australia and Europe. In keeping with the focus of the estate, burgundy rules.

The idea behind such a list was simple, says owner/vigneron Martin Spedding: to have wines that are great examples of style or place. These are wines he wants to drink. Clearly, everyone else does, too, judging by the pencil lines striking out those no longer available. It detracts from an otherwise impressive tome.

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For others, such a vast inventory might be too daunting but there's an easier way to enjoy drinking here: the exciting two-page list featuring flights, i.e. several tastes of a grape variety or style, or you can choose from the terrific sparkling, red and white wines offered by the glass, as a taste or by the bottle. Of the two white wine flights offered during summer, the "chardonnay experience" ($23.50) is a cracker. You taste, as in 90-millilitre pours, three '06 wines - a 10X (a blend of the estate), a Bindi composition from Macedon and a Gilbert Picq chablis. However, there is a more streamlined option - wines by the glass chosen to accompany each course. That's where the food comes in.

There's a new chef on board with a brief to produce dishes "that sing with wine". That makes sense. Stuart Bell started at the end of November, thrown in at the busiest time of the year. Nothing he can't handle. He has so much French cooking experience - working alongside the likes of Philippe Mouchel, Jacques Reymond and Alain Fabregues of the Loose Box in Perth - that he's almost an honorary Frenchman. Appropriately the menu is not dominated by French food, just a nod here and there as in the rabbit and pistachio terrine ($16) and in the jus or sauces he clearly enjoys preparing. Mostly, it's about French cooking techniques used to create clean flavours from regional produce, where possible. The menu makes a point about meal miles, although the wine list, in the main, can't fit that category - nor the Voss mineral water ($9) from Norway if you choose the sparkling.

However, doing my bit, and matching well with all the dishes, is a Ten Minutes by Tractor single vineyard chardonnay, the Wallis ($70) a stunning balance between acidity and purity of fruit. It would partner well with either the chilled prawns ($18) served on a dainty salad of avocado, tomato and apple; or the warm crab ravioli with asparagus ($18). The latter is an agreeable "beginning", as entrees are called, and while asparagus is really at the end of its short season, it's nonetheless flavoursome and al dente. Sitting on top of the spears are two large ravioli with a garnish of diced tomatoes, baby watercress leaves and pine nuts adding texture and tang. The dish looks lovely. While the filling of blue swimmer crab flavoured with fennel, parsley, chives and tarragon is refined, the pasta (not house-made) is a little doughy and would have benefited from further cooking.

By now the dining room is full and the noise levels have risen accordingly. Everyone seems to be enjoying the day. Me, too, especially when my "middle", as in main course, turns out to be an excellent choice - crispy-skin barramundi ($34). The fish is sweet, nutty, incredibly moist and beautifully cooked. It's topped with two asparagus spears, half a roasted tomato and more baby watercress leaves. Underneath is a risotto flecked with oyster and swiss brown mushrooms and an intensely flavoured tomato and balsamic reduction. The risotto partners well but the sauce, while good, isn't really necessary.

Dessert turns out to be flawless: an outstanding chocolate terrine ($15) with poached cherries and rhubarb sorbet. Each flavour is balanced, concentrated but none dominates. The terrine comprises three layers of creamy, rich (of course, but not heavy) Callebaut chocolate mousse wedged between thin slices of sponge. The wine suggestion is either Penfolds Grandfather port or a Stanton & Killeen classic tokay; both would work well but so does an excellent short black ($4).

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It's still early days yet but even so, Ten Minutes by Tractor is a top restaurant, not just a great cellar door.

John Lethlean is on leave.

Score: 19: Unacceptable. 10-11: Just OK, some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: Outstanding. 19-20: Approaching perfection, Victoria's best

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