Payten and Jones ‘F*ck Twenty20’ Mataro

Story

Payten & Jones wines are a little different – they are a little murky in the glass and can sometimes throw a bit of sediment. Their wines always look better with a bit of air, served in a glass (although a jug can also work), at the right temperature, with amazing food and great company. The wines are not ‘perfect’ by industry standards, but they have the perfect personality for the situations they’re made for. ‘Being allegedly the only two (literate) students to Graduate Healesville High School in ’97, we were always destined to work together’. Behn (the Payten) drove his first Tractor at the age of 5. Troy (the Jones) was talking by the age of 1 and hasn’t shut up since. “Naturally we fell in with the wrong crowd out here, and became Vignerons/Winemakers.” Behn’s dad Pete knows a thing or two about vineyards. In his years of working in the industry, he managed Australia’s first certified organic vineyard and always focused heavily on sustainability, so they knew they were in good hands. The three of them continue to spend regular nights on the red, solving the world’s problems. There’s minimal intervention, a bit of ‘raw’ processes, and nothing filtered or cleaned up in any way. The wines aren’t ‘squeaky clean’, they are a bit ‘edgy’, even a bit ‘raw’. Always interesting, with a little soul left in. And delicious, always smashable.

Where we’re going, we don’t need roads. A tribute to this year – one we all should have a drink to or perhaps one we wish we could go back in time and start again. A Mataro held on skins for 8 months, it’s driven by red fruit aromatics, with just enough savoury tannin, and a super juicy mid-palate.

Won’t last long, just like 2020.

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