As I stated in my previous blog post, I was in Israel for a few days (and Paris for a few hours) and I made the most of all the days there, wine wise anyway. One of the places I had to go to again, was Netofa Winery. Yes, I was there at the end of last year, to taste the new 2014 Domaine Latour Netofa red, and it was a true joy to enjoy, and it made it to my top 25 wines of the year.

So, I made sure to come by again in 2017, to taste the new wines that will be released soon. The 2016 Domaine Netofa Rose, and the 2016 Domaine Netofa White were ready, but sadly the 2016 Domaine Netofa Red was not yet ready to taste. Thankfully, he also brought an early sample of the 2016 Latour Netofa Roussanne.

Yes, there are two new horses in the Netofa stable, Roussanne and Grenache!! The Grenache shows itself nicely in the new 2016 Rose, and I hope will allow the rose to stay alive longer than previous vintages. The Roussanne is a new wine, aged in oak, like the other Latour Netofa wines, and is made in the classic old-world Hermitage style. It was a very early sample, and I am sure it will change more with time. This sample needed two to three hours of air till it came around, so this one will be a doozy for sure, when it is finally released in July 2017, or so.

When I was in Paris at the Bokobsa tasting, they had the two new 2016 wines, the rose and the Netofa white, but I said no, I am tasting them with the chef himself (Mr. Pierre Miodownick) the next day, so I kindly bowed out and moved on to more French wines!

So indeed that is what I did, I tasted through all the 2014 French wines and then ran out the door to catch my plane back to the Holy land to spend time with the chef himself! I actually arrived on time again! Two times in a row, maybe I will make a habit of it going forward!

We enjoyed the new white, rose, and the epic Roussanne. I must be honest, at the start, the Roussanne was a bit too oaky. However, I have learned from being around wines in their incubation state, oak has a very interesting effect on wine. When you drop the wine in the barrel to start, it seems to soak up the oak like a drunk sailor (maybe a sponge would have been a better analogy). However, after some time, the oak stops being noticed as much as what the oak is doing for the wine. I am not a winemaker so I cannot talk to what the difference is, but I can feel that this wine was not in the soaking stage as much, and more in the maturation stage, but what do I know. After, an hour or more, the oak receded to the background and the wine’s rich and unique flavors really started to pop out. Gone was the oak and in was the rich straw, flowers, nuttiness, all melding with the oak’s inspired brioche and cobbler. Really unique. There will be no score on this wine, as it is not a final product, but it is unique to say the least, and please look for this when it is released in 6 months.

Then the chef pulled a rabbit out of the hat! The 2014 Marquis de Mons, a lovely 2nd wine, that is made at the same winery as the epic 2014 Chateau Marsac Seguineau, that I had at the paris Bokobsa tasting.

Then, as if that was not enough fun, Mr. Miodownick went to his wall of wines (the ones that wrap his tasting room),and pulled two wines from the walls. News flash, I thought those bottles were empty! Next time I am grabbing some on my way out!!!!

The first two bottles he pulled off the magic wall, were 2010 vintages of the Latour Netofa and the Domaine Netofa red. Both were great! Then he pulled an unlabeled bottle of the 2011 Latour Netofa Red.

I truly enjoyed the 2010 wines, while the 2011 was missing a step, still nice, but not at the 2010 level. So, there you have it, another lovely visit to Domaine Netofa Winery. I will hopefully be back this year, but only God knows when!

Also, I like the new labels! So many wineries are changing labels like a leopard changes its spots, but these labels are not a massive change, for the sake of change. These are more of a shift towards a bright and colorful feeling of a Chateau, very much akin to the flavors of the wine.

My notes follow below – enjoy:

2016 Domaine Netofa White – Score: A- (Crazy QPR)
Nothing new here, other than the label. The wine continues to impress, throw in the fantastic joy of Chenin Blanc, and the price and we have another winner from Netofa!
Lovely floral nose, still closed, but lovely with straw, hay, rich green apple, quince, and lovely bright fruit. What can I say, this medium bodied wine is another acid homerun, showing lovely bright and fresh fruit, that gives way to a great acid core, with mineral, mad citrus, grapefruit, with lovely dried white currant, herb, and more floral notes. The finish is a long and fruity acid trip, with rich mineral, followed by lovely lemon curd, more citrus, with bright fruit. Bravo!

2016 Netofa Latour Roussanne – Score: NA (yet!)
Lovely nose of smoke, flint, with crazy straw and hay, followed by sweet spices, cinnamon, and dried peach, pecan, and walnut. The mouth is young still, with crazy dried peach, grapefruit, with intense brioche and pecan pie with crazy violets and earth and intense spice. The finish is long and lingers incredibly long, with rich honeyed notes of sweet oak, with peach cobbler and sweet white fruit, wrapped in blossoms and herbs. BRAVO!

2016 Domaine Netofa Rose – Score: A- (Great QPR)
This wine is a blend of 50% syrah, 30% Grenache, and 20% mourvedre. Yes, this is the new Grenache that came online this year, and I really hope it helps the Rose last longer.
The nose on this lovely gris wine, is redolent with strawberry, crazy raspberry, peach, apricot, showing crazy bright notes, lovely floral notes, spice, with lavender, smoke, rose and flint. Wow, what a joy of a mouth, the medium bodied wine is popping with acid, with rich dried aromas, lovely currants, tart summer fruits, showing dried lychee, gooseberry that goes on and on, with pink grapefruit, and lovely tart juicy fruit. The finish is long and crazy tart, bravo with rich flint and chalk. Lovely pith. Bravo again!!!

2014 Chateau La Tour de Mons ‘Marquis de Mons’, Margaux – Score: A-
This wine is a blend of 65% Merlot, and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine does not open quickly, it took three hours for it to really start to show its abilities. This wine is the 2nd label of Chateau La Tour De Mons. This is the same winery where Bokobsa made the beautiful Château Marsac Séguineau – that I had in Paris.
Wow what a nose, lovely, old world, crazy perfume of herb, intense raspberry, lovely currant, not pushed, controlled, in deep dirt and earth, with forest floor, mushroom and foliage. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is rich in saline mouth, tar, vanilla, crazy mushroom structure, showing blackberry, with nice extraction, epic, really lovely with red fruit, dirt, terroir and great mineral. The finish is long and green, beautiful, elegant, with dark chocolate, mushroom, red tart juicy fruit, and mouth coating elegant tannin. A wine that really demands another score above A-, but sadly none exist for me at this time. Bravo! Drink by 2022.

2010 Domaine Netofa Red (QPR) – Score: A-
This wine is a blend of 70% Syrah and 30% Mourvedre, also known in the Rhone Valley and Australia as an SM blend. The nose on this lovely wine is pure smoke with ripe blackberry, boysenberry, and perfumed sweet licorice. The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine comes at you with still draping tannin, with now dry blue and black fruit, coffee and tobacco, followed by lovely spices, but now balanced with a lovely undergrowth of mushroom and forest floor, with leather. Lovely! Drink by 2018.

2010 Domaine Netofa Latour, Red – Score: A- to A
This wine is a blend of 65% Syrah and 35% Mourvedre. The nose on this wine is an absolute smoke monster, wow what a joy. Blue, black, and charcoal, with green notes, and mushroom. What a joy this full-bodied wine is, showing elegant saline, black olives, with forest floor and earth, blackberry and blueberry, with crazy spice and elegance, sheer elegant draping tannin, rich spice, with the lovely extraction giving way to mushroom and forest floor. The finish is long and green, with mineral, charcoal, flowing into notes of earth, coffee, and tobacco. Lovely! Drink by 2019.

2011 Domaine Netofa Latour, Red – Score: A-
This wine is a blend of 70% Syrah and 30% Mourvedre, also known in the Rhone Valley and Australia as an SM blend. The nose on this wine which we tasted side by side its older brother, is not as old world, it is still showing its youth with jam like and perfumed boysenberry, spice, ripe black fruit, and nutmeg. The mouth is impressive on this full-bodied wine, with still concentrated jam fruit, wrapped in intense mouth coating tannin, showing lovely blue and black fruit, with spice, nice acid, along with sweet oak. The finish is long and spicy with root beer, watermelon, and spice. This will start to give way to mother time. Drink by 2018.