Payten and Jones Valley Vignerons Series Chardonnay 2018

Story

Payten and Jones Valley Vignerons Series Chardonnay give off a bright golden hue and has beautiful aromas of smoke, flint, and apricot with white peaches and buttery textures following on the palate. There’s minimal intervention, a bit of ‘raw’ processes, and nothing filtered or cleaned up in any way. This wine isn’t ‘squeaky clean’, it’s are a bit ‘edgy’, even a bit ‘raw’. Always interesting, with a little soul left in. And delicious, always smashable.

Chardonnay that tastes like Chardonnay! Textual Yarra Valley Chardonnay. Picked early, the wine goes through malo, gets some stirring and and then matured in 50% barriques and 50% stainless steel. The wine has a rich textual element then a freshness and acid line that brings it all back in line.

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.

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