Noon Eclipse – The vines which produce this wine surround the house and the furthest are 500m from it, so they are very familiar in all their seasonal guises.
The vines which produce this wine surround our house and the furthest are 500m from it, so they are very familiar in all their seasonal guises. They are like old friends. I have pruned and tended them since I was a child and so the appearance of the vines themselves, the leaves and the bunches as they develop, is very familiar. I feel like I share a life experience with them and so they are close to my heart.
The wine we produce from them reflects this vineyard and our region. Noon Eclipse is produced predominately from Grenache (80-90%+), along with small amounts of Shiraz and Graciano.
Ideal drinking time is generally at 5-10 years of age, when the wine is still youthful but has gained complexity and softness from time in bottle. Most of our customers tell me they find the wines to be still quite youthful at this age but I prefer to be conservative with recommended cellaring times, allowing for people’s different cellaring conditions. And it’s far better to drink them a little too young than too old as there’s no going back!
You can also drink your Eclipse much earlier than this of course. There’s plenty of enjoyment to be had from drinking at 1-5 years when the wine is robust and full of vigour. At this age I recommend giving the wine some air and a little time to breathe to soften the tannins before consuming. Decanting an hour or more ahead will do this. The younger the wine the tighter the tannins and the more time required. When we drink the current release, we usually find it tastes even better the next day.
Noon Eclipse is matured in seasoned 300 litre French and American oak barrels and large (Foudre and demi-muid sized) oak casks for 18 months.
The grapes are picked by hand and fermentation takes place in small open vats with manual pigeage, to help extract colour and tannins. Pressing is also done by hand, using manual basket presses which are gentle and do not extract too much bitterness or astringency.
Very little is added or taken away by modern winemaking technology. We prefer to take a minimalist approach, believing that this will deliver a wine which genuinely reflects the grapes and the site.
Noon Eclipse is grown, made and bottled on the estate.
For more information on the winery go to their website
To see our other Noon wines go to our dedicated web page
£49.00 a bottle
6 in stock
Noon Winery is run and owned by Drew and Raegan Noon. The Noon’s are quiet and considered people making earth shattering wines! They make gloriously powered, ripe late-picked red wine styles. James Halliday once wrote that the Reserve Cabernet would be a good drink for a sumo wrestler!
The winery has a very small production most of which is pre-sold, and customers have long standing relationships with the winery and the family.
The McLaren Vale is predominately a red wine region, producing some of the best red wines in South Australia. Vineyards were first planted in the mid 1800s. One of the early pioneers Thomas Hardy established a business that evolved to BRL Hardy, one of the largest wine companies in the country. The region also has a healthy number of boutique wineries that consistently make fine wines and experiment with different wine styles. The climate is warm to hot with dry summers, and benefits from cooling breezes from the St Vincent Gulf. The main wine styles: Red – Shiraz (rich, ripe & generous), Cabernet Sauvignon; White – Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc.
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