Mezcalistas: NETA is finally here

The animating idea behind NETA is deceptively simple: Bottle unique batches of mezcal from Miahuatlán. Getting it to market has presented an entirely different set of challenges. It’s a long gestating project: The NETA crew have been working on it for more than seven years.

Anyone involved in the wine world will instantly understand NETA. They buy small batches of mezcal from distillers doing things exactly as they want to. Rosenstock says, “We’re not dictating anything. It’s all up to the mezcaleros and what’s available on their side.” The batches are tiny in terms of the spirits market, usually no more than two or three hundred liters—occasionally less—with vintage designations. Once a batch is gone, it is truly gone. (See my tasting notes of their first American shipment.)