5 points Drink 2002-2025 Wine Advocate #143 (Oct 2002) Robert Parker

The opaque blue/black/purple-colored 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is even more impressive from bottle than it was from barrel. This is a great effort displaying first-growth quality. It boasts a stunningly pure nose of creme de cassis, cedar, licorice, smoke, and vanilla. As it sits in the glass, notions of chocolate also emerge. This full-bodied Cabernet builds incrementally in the mouth. The finish lasts for 45 seconds. A magnificent example, its seamlessness and concentration are profound. This impressive newcomer has not had the time to establish a track record, but I would be shocked if this wine did not evolve for 12-15 years. It should still be drinking well at age 25. Owners Andrew and Rae Noon were part of the young, open-minded generation (Rea's father also made wine) that is guided by one goal: to produce the most uncompromising product possible. In 2000, there are 750 cases of the Eclipse, 260 of the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, and 350 of the Shiraz Reserve, all three staggeringly great efforts from a vintage that, on paper, should not have produced wines this prodigious. Interestingly, I had a chance to taste the Noon offerings opened in my presence against bottles opened twenty-four and seventy-two hours earlier. Remarkably, there was not much difference. Even from bottles that had been opened for three days, the wines were still exhibiting incredible amounts of fruit as well as concentration. This always indicates the potential for longevity.