Recently, there have been a “bevy” of negative TNs surrounding older btls of Noon Reserve Shiraz.
Back in November 2006, I attended an EWS tasting (ewswine.com) where we had the 1997 Noon Reserve Shiraz, blind, amongst 13 other older Aussie Shiraz. The tasting was disappointing as a whole, with the Noon bringing up the rear.
- 1997 Noon “Reserve” (Langhorne Creek) - 0 points (0/0/0) - 82 rating
Deeply colored and somewhat older looking with hints of amber at the rim. Intriguing nose recalls Linzer Tortes right out of the oven, but there are a flood of complaints that this Shiraz was “stinky,” “pruney,” “fecal,” and slightly corked. Big in the mouth, it seems to be more about alcohol and edgy acids than attractive fruit right now. Gets worse as it sits, with a hot, cherry acid finish. Competes with 1997 Astralis (wine #3) for the “booby prize” of the tasting. > Pretty awful stuff.
Robert Parker scored the wine 98 points, back in 1999, and gave a drinking window through 2025. That wine was clearly over the hill and horrible.
Jay Miller actually tasted the 1998 back in 2006, and scored it 100 points in the Hedonist Gazette…now, Parker also says he drank a 1998 that was “sensational.”
Interestingly enough, I was taking with my distributor sales rep of Noon wines last night in the store, and she remarked how she hates these wines young and old.
I have limited experience (The EWS result of the “RP 98” 1997 was enough to scare me away. Were your experiences similar to those of EWS, myself, Barry Pershkow and others? Or have you had “perfect” or “near perfect” btls like Miller and Parker?