2017 RESERVE SHIRAZ, Drew Noon. Langhorne Creek, South Australia

Drew Noon’s winery is in McLaren Vale, just south of Adelaide, close to the coast, and home to Australia’s juiciest, ripest, most open-hearted Shiraz. However for this wine – “the grapes have been sourced from the same vineyard (the 1.6 hectare ‘20 Rows’ Block in Langhorne Creek owned by the Borrett family) since the first Reserve Shiraz in 1997.” The vineyard is un-grafted as the region is free of phylloxera.

100% Shiraz; aged in 300 litre French and American oak barrels (40% new) for 18 months.

Drew Noon (Master of Wine, one of very few in Australia) makes just 3,000 cases a year and little comes to the UK. This is a proper family winery following the French model. He tends the vines and makes the wine, with minimal help from others, whilst his wife Reagan manages the books, the family, the label designs and the customers

Great year in McLaren Vale

2014-2024

Drew’s wines are adored by some but written off by some critics because of their high alcohols. They should look away from the label and taste – given time to mature, the wines are gentle and elegant

Wine Advocate: 94 points “Sourced from the same block of Langhorne Creek vines as it has always been, the 2017 Reserve Shiraz boasts intense aromas of menthol-eucalyptus and dark plums. Aged in 30% to 40% new French and American oak, the fruit has easily soaked up any oak flavor, leaving a full-bodied wine that’s loaded with black cherries, mulberries and plums. The texture is lush and creamy, the finish long and smoothly lingering, with hints of licorice and dark chocolate. It’s a big but incredibly suave and sexy offering that carries its ample alcohol (labeled at 15.9%) amazingly well.”