Reviews / NETA Arroqueño
Review · · by The Editors
NETA Arroqueño
Two maestros on a Miahuatlán arroqueño – competent, not vintage
Score: 3.5/5 agaves
- Producer: NETA
- Maestro: Hermógenes Vasquez, Paula Aquino Sánchez
- Region: Miahuatlán, Oaxaca
- Agave: Arroqueño
- Price: $70 ($$)
Verdict
Two reviewers at 3.0 feels harsh for a Hermógenes and Paula collaboration; our read edges higher. Arroqueño rewards long cooks and long fermentations, both of which these maestros deliver, and the Miahuatlán provenance reads cleanly. It's not the NETA arroqueño we'd point first-timers to – that's a higher-scored batch – but it's a legitimate document of two serious hands working together.
Even a middling NETA arroqueño drinks better than most producers' best
Tasting notes
Nose: Dark stone fruit, wet granite, cooked sugar, faint pepper
Palate: Arroqueño from Miahuatlán with Hermógenes Vasquez and Paula Aquino Sánchez collaborating – dense, savory, proof-forward, but not quite at the best-of-NETA tier
Finish: Savory, peppery. Long
The bottom line
Buy for the maestros, not the headline score