The 2018 Noon Reserve Shiraz is a rich, full-bodied wine packed with dark berries, herbs, and a bit of spice. It’s smooth yet structured with firm tannins and a long finish. Great to drink now or cellar for a few years if you’re into bold Aussie Shiraz.

The Wine Advocate | RP 97
Published: Feb 26, 2021
Drink: 2020-2030

This year, my favorite of the Noon wines is the 2018 Reserve Shiraz. Marked by aromas of mint, sage, bay leaf, cassis and blackberry, this is a full-bodied, rich wine that manages to combine size and intensity with impressive suppleness and length. And while it's undeniably sexy and immediately appealing from a purely hedonistic standpoint, there's enough going on to inspire repeated sampling, with cool herbal notes and peppery notes of salted licorice providing complex counterpoints to the ripe berry fruit.

There are few wineries in Australia that can boast a similar record of year-to-year consistency. Proprietor Drew Noon, MW, continues to make a terrific McLaren Vale Grenache-based blend (Eclipse), while sourcing fruit from Langhorne Creek for the Reserve Cabernet and Reserve Shiraz.

Noonwinery.com.au

Grapes for the Reserve Shiraz have been sourced from the best block or blocks from the Borrett family vineyards in Langhorne Creek since the first Reserve Shiraz was produced in 1997.

The Noon Reserve Shiraz is a full bodied, generously flavoured wine. If you usually prefer white wines or more elegant, light-medium bodied reds then this may not be the wine for you. It may be drunk young but will certainly reward cellaring.

Note that there was no 2008, 2011 or 2023 Reserve Shiraz produced.

Earlier bottlings of this wine; 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989 and 1987 (when my father David was the winemaker) were labelled simply as Noon’s Traditional Red.

2018 Reserve Shiraz
Produced from Shiraz grown on the 20 Rows block in Langhorne Creek by the Borrett family. We hand harvested the smaller crop in perfect condition on Tuesday 13 March 2018. The Reserve Shiraz is dense and full bodied. There is detail and nuance to the deep set flavours. The texture is round and the balance is excellent, with firm tannins providing definition and length to the finish. This is a lovely wine to drink now or cellar for many years.