As always, I am super late on posting notes, and this post is no different. This past year, I have been really busy, and while I am thankful for that fact, it has put a crimp on my wine posts. Well, now I have been freed up a bit, and I am catching up on lost time.

In March 2018, I visited with Mr. Miodownick and on my latest trip in November, I had no time to get up north. So, I got all the current wines from Pyup and tasted them as part of the two blind tastings. Domaine Netofa is a winery I have posted about often and maybe the most posted about winery on my blog, besides Tzora Vineyards, that kind of tells you what I think about those two wineries. Pierre Miodownick is the head winemaker at this winery, as he has been since the winery’s inaugural 2009 vintage.

Thankfully, the winery is still one of the last bastions of normalcy, when it comes to white and red wines in Israel, along with a few others. Sadly, at the blind tasting, the 2017 Domaine Chenin Blanc was corked, but my notes for it from the March tasting can be found here. The 2016 red wines were a bit of a mixed bag, with some of them showing more ripeness, even for Netofa. The 2017 roses were fun, but they are all sold out already, and that is good, as 2017 roses should not be around anymore. The 2017 white Latour seemed to feel lacking in the blind tasting, though it was still elegant.

Sadly, the availability of these wines continues to be an issue here in the USA. I really wish Netofa could find an importer already and get us some fun Israeli red and white wines to enjoy here in the USA. Until then, you need to go to Israel to buy and enjoy them.

My many thanks to Mr. Miodownick and the winery for letting me come by and enjoy the wines with him, even if this post is many months late! The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here:

2017 Domaine Netofa Chenin Blanc – Score: 91
Really lovely wine, showing hints of oak which does not exist in this wine, along with lovely flint, peach, dry straw, and yellow pear, with mineral. The mouth is really lovely with nice bracing acid, followed by tart grapefruit, citrus, quince, and great mineral. The finish is crazy fun, with intense pith, spice galore, and lovely herb, slate, and pith. Lovely! Drink by 2020. (Sadly this is only available in Israel).

2017 Domaine Netofa Tel Qasser, White – Score: 91 to 92 (tasted blind in November)
Lovely wine, sadly I knew what it is, lovely Roussanne, showing earth, mineral, rich brightness, with loads of heather, lovely floral notes, with straw, yellow plum, and apple. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is layered, rich, and nicely extracted, showing rich oily structure, with layers of green apple, quince, lovely richness, with mineral, grass, straw, and lovely acidity showing long with flowers, and rich lemongrass. Lovely!! Drink until 2022. (Sadly this is only available in Israel).

2017 Domaine Netofa Latour, White – Score: 89 (tasted blind in November)
This wine started off really funky, and not in a good way, but with time it turned around. To start it tasted and smelled very off, with boiled fruit, candied scary fruit. With time it opened, showing more akin to 2016, but sadly it lacked the acid of the 2016 vintage, with straw, oak, earth, mineral, and nice spice, that gives way to heather, floral notes. The mouth is now open, but sadly the mouth lacks the acid to bring it around, the wine feels a bit flat with pear, apricot, and green apple, with nice oak and vanilla. Drink now.  (Sadly this is only available in Israel).

2017 Domaine Netofa Rose – Score: 89
This wine is a blend of 50% Syrah, 30% Grenache, and 20% Mourvedre. The nose on this wine is lovely but sweet, with rosehip, ripe strawberry, and grapefruit, with cherry and raspberry. The mouth is medium bodied with great acidity and with lovely currant and quince that works great with dry fruit, that is richly saline and mineral but sweeter, than the Netofa Latour. The finish is sweet and yet nicely balance with mineral, slate, and pith. Nice!  (Sadly this is only available in Israel).

2017 Domaine Netofa Latour, Rosado – Score: 91
This and the Recanati Gris de Marselan are the only two Israeli roses that I really liked, and are leaner and not tropical or fruit bombs. This wine is a blend of 90% Tempranillo and 10% Grenache. The nose on the first ever “reserve” rose from Netofa wine is more refined than the baseline Netofa rose, with rosehip again, but now with quince, raspberry, and strawberry creme. The mouth is not the screaming acid bomb that the Domaine rose is, but this is perfectly balanced with good pith and slate, showing more refinement and elegance with more citrus and grapefruit and less of the sweet currant fruit, with lovely slate and floral notes. The finish is green and red with pith and spice. Love it. Bravo!  (Sadly this is only available in Israel).

2017 Netofa Kerem – Score: 88 to 89
This wine is a new entry-level wine and is a blend of 60% Syrah and 40% Touriga Nacional. The nose is classic Israeli Syrah, screaming with black currant and spice, floral notes, with hints of black fruit. The mouth is medium bodied and simple, showing potential, with great spice, and cloves. Nice. Drink now. (Sadly this is only available in Israel).

2017 Domaine Netofa, Red – Score: 90
This wine is a GSM, 60% Syrah, 20% Grenache, and 20% Mourvedre. The nose on this wine screams blueberry, ripe strawberry, raspberry, and earth. This is nice, the nose is ripe, but balanced, with lovely mineral, blue fruit, raspberry, dark cherry, and earth. The mouth is round, earthy, and nice, showing blueberry, raspberry, root beer, and hints of watermelon, that give way to spice, vanilla, and spice. Nice! Drink until 2022.  (Sadly this is only available in Israel).

2016 Domaine Netofa Latour, Red – Score: 92
This wine is a blend of 65% Syrah and 35% Mourvedre. The nose on this wine is lovely, ripe and balanced, with sweet Oak, blueberry, boysenberry, with bright fruit, and loads of dirt. This wine is really still very young, showing great potential, with incredible tannin, great acid, rich layers of blue and black fruit with great aging potential, loads of chocolate and rich spice, dark fruit, and herb, all wrapped in a plush yet elegant mouthfeel. The finish is less green than past vintages, showing a more ripe fruit profile, but still clearly balanced, with foliage, tobacco, mint, and sweet spices and herbs. Bravo!! Drink from 2020 till 2024.  (Sadly this is only available in Israel).

2017 Domaine Netofa Tel Qasser – Score: 89
This wine is ripe, sweet, with sweet notes of blueberry, earth, strawberry, ripe plum, and earth. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is ripe, round, and needs time to open, with time, it shows sweet, with ripe boysenberry, root beer, and earth. Nice enough. Drink until 2021.  (Sadly this is only available in Israel).

2016 Domaine Netofa Latour Tinto – Score: 90 to 91
This wine is made from 100% Tempranillo, and it has its advocates and some who find the wine too bitter. I continue to like this wine. The nose on this wine is lovely, a great classic Tinto, with screaming tar, charcoal, just the way we love it with green fruit, garrigue, and blackberry. The mouth is layered and really fun and showing great potential, with gripping tannin and rich acid, lots of minerals and lovely red fruit. The finish is long and green and mineral, with scrapping graphite. Joy!  (Sadly this is only available in Israel).

2016 Domaine Netofa Dor – Score: 92
This wine is the second of the Dor wines, and it is 100% Tempranillo. Wow what a nose, this wine is a real joy. The nose starts with a lovely and impressive redolence, showing rich smoke, roasted animal, with tar and asphalt, that gives way to dark fruit and red cherry. The mouth is really layered and rich with great acidity and focus, showing beautiful and crazy balance and elegance, with mouth coating tannin and dark chocolate and rich spices, while coming at you in layers of balanced fruit, acid, and a fruit focus that really grabs your attention. The finish is rich and layered and lovely, with green notes and garrigue, along with massive mounds of graphite and mineral galore. Bravo. Drink from 2020 until 2025.  (This has yet to be released, tasted from a bottle).

2011 Domaine Netofa Latour Red – Score: 91
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 is not as old-world, as other vintages, it is riper with a 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 soon. Drink by 2020.