In late November, 2016, I asked Pierre Miodownick if I could come by the winery to taste his new 2014 Latour Netofa red, and he was very kind to let me come by again. I normally visit Netofa Winery once a year in February, and I taste the new wines of that vintage. This time, there was no 2015 vintage, yet I came anyway to taste the new 2014 Latour White, and re-taste some older wines, in early 2016.

When I arrived – Mr. Miodownick was there and we tasted through many of his wines again. I must say, that netofa reds and whites age so well, like classic French wines. I have posted often about Netofa Winery in the past four years, and I think it is one of the top 5 wineries in Israel, when you look at its quality, price, and the fact that they rarely to ever have duds. Add in the fact, that they make great old world wines in a New world climate, for both the reds and whites, and you quickly understand why they are in my top 5 of Israeli kosher wineries.

This time we once again tasted some lovely older wines, side-by-side some newer ones and once again I was blown away from how old-world the wines tasted. Mr. Miodownick really has it down pat by now, and as the vines grow older and get more in tune with their environment, the wines will only get better and better.

In case you missed it, I made the 2014 Domaine Latour Netofa red one of my top 25 wines of the year.

My many thanks to Mr. Miodownick and the winery for letting me come by and enjoy the wines with him! My wine notes follow below:

2011 Domaine Netofa Latour White  – Score: A-
WOW what a nose! This wine is also 100% Chenin Blanc, but was aged in French oak for 7 months. The nose on this lovely wine is stunning, with rich smoke, flint, green notes, with intense straw, and hay, really lovely floral notes of cassia, and ripe apple but dried fruit as well, lovely. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is rich and viscous, with ripe but dried tart fruit of green apple and quince, with beautiful brioche and straw, along with beautiful mineral, Asian pear, with saline and herb, WOW. The finish is long and buttery with great viscosity, but perfectly balanced with lively acidity, butterscotch, caramel, and lemon, lovely. BRAVO!!

2014 Domaine Netofa Latour White (QPR) – Score: A- to A
So the previous vintages of this wine were medium bodied but this one was full and layered and viscous – impressive! As I said before, these wines are improving and changing as the vines have more age under their belts! WOW what a nose! This wine is also 100% Chenin Blanc, and was aged in French oak for 7 months.
The nose on this wine is equally redolent with notes that are far more Sauvignon Blanc in style than the lees driven funk that I have come to find in this lovely wine, however, it does show the lovely straw, dry grass, mad honey, peach, honeysuckle, and more mineral. While this mouth is full-bodied as the 2013 vintage, it has even more acid, more focus, with dried quince, quince, all balanced well with grapefruit focused citrus, an overall impressive mouthfeel, viscous, tart, bright, with balance of oak influenced notes. The finish is long with saline, hints of bricohe that will show later in the aging process, and honeysuckle! BRAVO!

2014 Domaine Netofa Red (QPR!) – Score: A-
This wine is a clear step up from the 2012 Netofa Red and in lockstep with its younger 2013 brother! This wine is a blend of 50% Syrah and 50% Mourvedre – with more Mourvedre than in any previous vintage. The nose on this wine is redolent and packed with mineral, some smoke, but really heady with floral notes, rose hip, followed by ripe and juicy blueberry and blackberry. The mouth on this medium bodied wine shows what a wine can be even if it has no oak on it, with impressive extraction, intense acid, tart fruit structure, showing juicy strawberry, rich mouth coating tannin, blackcurrant, and heady spice. The finish is long and well-balanced with nice acid, mineral, graphite, cloves, and lovely sweet spices lingering long – BRAVO!!

2014 Domaine Netofa Tinto – Score: A- (QPR)
The wine is a Portugal dry blend, made of Tempranillo and Touriga Nacional. The nose on this lovely wine is really intense with a perfect blend of dark black and blue fruit, along with loamy dirt, smoke, and candied fig, and blueberry. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is a bit more like the 2012 than the epic 2013. The mouth starts with a hit of that ribbon of bitter graphite, followed by blackberry, blackcurrant, more blue notes, sweet dill, garrigue, root beer, lovely stone fruit, and mouth coating tannin. The finish is long and dirty, with nice tar, charcoal, coffee, saline, and mineral. Lovely!

2013 Domaine Netofa Tinto – Score: A-  (QPR)
The wine is a Portugal dry blend, made of Tempranillo and Touriga Nacional. The nose on this wine is redolent with intense smoke, roasted meat, tar, blueberry, mixed with peach, along with crazy floral aromas, and rose hips – intoxicating! The mouth on this full-bodied wine is richly extracted and captivating with lovely restraint and control than the sweeter 2012 fruit, showing beautiful fruit structure, with white summer fruits playing in tandem with mineral, forest floor, garrigue, ripping acid, and more blue and red fruit, and mounds of loam and dirt. The finish is long and crazy rich, with lovely mineral, charcoal, candied quince, leather, all wrapped in mad draping tannins, with sweeter peach and blueberry fighting for dominance, with ripe blackberry in the background, all topped with a shake of cinnamon and sage. BRAVO my friends BRAVO!!

2012 Domaine Netofa Latour, Red – Score: A-  (QPR)
The last time we tasted this wine was at last year’s tasting. It has changed little from that tasting. This wine is a blend of 70% Syrah and 30% Mourvedre, also known in the Rhone Valley and Australia as an SM blend. This wine is a riper version than the 2013. The nose on this lovely wine is rich with ripe fruit, blackberry, boysenberry, and perfumed spice and sweet licorice. The mouth on this full-bodied wine comes at you in layers of blue and black fruit, rich spice, intense graphite, mouth coating and draping tannin, all packed in an intense and inky structure, with bright and tart blackcurrant, that comes at you with concentrated and rich fruit, and tea. The finish is long, spicy, fruity and jammy, with black plum, coffee, tobacco, nice spice, root beer, along with mounds of earth and mineral. This is a lovely wine that is rich and layered but one that would be insane if it had a bit more acid.

2013 Domaine Netofa Latour, Red – Score: A- to A (Crazy QPR)
The last time we tasted this wine was at last year’s tasting. It has changed little from that tasting. This wine is a blend of 70% Syrah and 30% Mourvedre, also known in the Rhone Valley and Australia as an SM blend. The 2013 vintage is a very different beast than the 2012, it is far more restrained, old-world, with elegance, ripping mineral, and saline. In some ways this reminds me of the 2010 superstar Latour.
The nose on this lovely wine is perfumed with crazy creamy blue and red fruit, with spicy notes, and rich soy sauce, that can come across also as mad and intense umami (AKA roasted meat). The mouth on this full-bodied wine is so old world in style it would shock you to think it is from Israel, with intense extraction and more umami that hit you in layers with earth, tar, blackcurrant, dark cherry, green olives, saline, concentrated plum, blueberry, all wrapped in mad mineral, spice, and spicy oak. The finish is long and very rich, with more candied blue fruit, dry plum, root beer, graphite, mineral, saline, all culminating in a mineral, dry fruit, roasted animal finish – BRAVO!!!!

2014 Domaine Netofa Latour red – Score: A- to A (Crazy QPR)
This wine is lovely and truly another proof that old world wines can be produced in Israel! The nose on this wine is truly impressive, showing crazy mineral, with great spice and herb, rich tar, boysenberry, blackberry, currant, with great herb and roasted animal. What a mouth of layers of concentrated but controlled, with classic currant and blue fruit, but great control and balance, with sweet spices, showing mouth coating and draping tannin that gives way to blueberry and raspberry, but mineral galore with strawberry in the background. The finish is long and juicy tart with great control, smoke, coffee and spice.

2013 Domaine Netofa Dor – Score: A-
As this wine ages, it does move in a more balanced direction. The wine is evolving, with a nose that is less all over the place and more focused, with lovely spice, blueberry, blue fruit with black forest and white fruit. The wine is still Cali to me, but coming around. The mouth is lovely and spicy, with great focus and attack, new world in style but control, with great black and blue attack, with nice currant and earth, tilled soil, with tar and garrigue, giving way to dark fruit and sweet spices and elegant tannin. The finish is long and spicy with fruit and chocolate and sweet oak playing nicely.

2012 Domaine Netofa Ruby Port (QPR) – Score: A-
This classical sweet wine Portuguese style wine uses the classic grapes, but instead of them being sourced in Portugal, they came from the foot of the Tabor Mountains; 80% Touriga Nacional and 20% Tempranillo. This is Netofa’s second release of a port, with the 2010 being their first.

I will say that this vintage is sweeter than the 2010, which to me was more restrained. The nose on this sweet wine is unique, rich, and ripe with prune, candied fruit, crazy perfumed fruit, blackberry, dark plum, date, with lovely nuts, and mad spice. The mouth on this rich and full bodied wine is insanely layered and richly extracted with intensely deep-rooted tannins, walnut, lovely spices, chocolate, spiced nuts, and candied raspberry. The finish is long and luscious with nice oxidation, all wrapped up with chocolate covered marzipan, almonds and mint. This is a wine that needs time to open, and actually evolves and improves with more air, as in weeks of more air! As the wine opens look for leather and spice and more nuts to meld into the rich extraction and make for even a more richly extracted and fruity whole – BRAVO!!

2010 Domaine Netofa LBV, Late Bottled Vintage, Port (QPR at almost any price) – Score: A
- to A
I need to state that it is not often that I score a wine an A- to A, not even wines that are many times more expensive, and no my point system is not a reason to buy a wine, but this wine is a no brainer, no matter the cost if you like sweet port like wines. This wine is very much inline with what we had last time, repeated here for clarity. This classical sweet wine Portuguese style wine uses the classic grapes, but instead of them being sourced in Portugal, they came from the foot of the Tabor Mountains; 80% Touriga Nacional and 20% Tempranillo. The wine was aged for 48 months in oak and it shows in the wine.

The nose on this black and purple colored wine has one of the most intensely perfumed wines I have ever smelled, with insanely ripe fruit, ripe fig, date, caramelized fruit, and crazy chocolate. The mouth on this intensely full bodied wine is WOW, with crazy oxidized notes of chocolate, richly structured and extracted with intense nuttiness, rich and lovely mint chocolate, with lovely ripe and candied plum, candied blackberry, with more dark black fruit, all coming at you in one of the most intense and extracted experiences I remember. The finish is long and richly extracted with chocolate, fig compote, almonds, walnut, and marzipan – WOW and BRAVO!!!