As Israeli wines and even its restaurant scene have improved dramatically it’s only natural that his reputation and stature have improved as well. It’s almost as if you were selling people on Yugo’s and Yugo’s all of a sudden (or over 25 years) started to make a product that competed with BMW and Infiniti, they’re bound to take someone more seriously or even just take more notice of the guy who was speaking about the potential of Yugo’s all along. Not that his reputation has depended strictly on the performance of Israeli wines, he also has a small apartment in Paris and Florence that allows him to travel and write about European wines for other publications. As much as he’s tied to Israel, he grew up speaking Russian, English and Yiddish, three languages not too uncommon for a kid being raised in the 40′s in Brooklyn, New York.

Daniel Rogov at a cafe on Basel Street in Tel Aviv

Having moved to Israel, Christmas Day, 1976 he got to Israel well before the wine revolution started in Israel. He started to write about food and wine in Europe before starting to write in Israel in 1982 (just as vintages were being picked would find their way into game changing Golan Heights wines and soon after Tishbi wines). These two wineries started the dry wine revolution against kiddush wine and insipid bulk wine that then dominated the Israeli wine marketplace.

So, he has much perspective about Israeli wines as almost anyone having tasted each of these wineries evolve, older wineries revamp and newer wineries emerge. Yet, he’s a very controversal figure in Israeli wine. Why, well to start he’s a critic and critics give their opinions and the better the critic the more opinionated they might be.

Now opinions are subjective in nature even if some criticisms are more fact based than others. But additionally, the taste of food and wine is subjective as well, and rating the service or atmosphere of a restaurant maybe even more so. Having expressed his opinion thousands of times over almost three decades he’s had the opportunity to engender praise and gratitude for positive reviews as well as scorn and antipathy for negative reviews. After 27 years he might even have several generations of families who love him or hate him but if you’re in either the restaurant or wine business it’s difficult to ignore his influence.

That being said, I have had the recent opportunity to debate Daniel Rogov on a few issues on another site about various issues about Israeli wines. It shouldn’t have come to my surprise that he, like me, has a background in philosophy. Criticism is actually, like logic, a common theme in philosophy and our arguments online were poignant yet often dialectic. I can’t say if either of us ever convinced the other of our views but we drew a lot of other parties into the discussions and at least brokered some debates that were interesting to follow and participate in (one was about the quality and perceived quality of mevushal wines and another was about whether a site promoting Israeli wines or Israeli wine writers should review Lebanese wines since they’ve been at a continuous state of war with Israel since 1948). I won’t say who was on what side and how the discussion played out (so as not to rekindle the same debate) but the views others brought to it and their reasons were as much as interest to me as of Rogov’s and mine but it’s his participation in debating the merits of food and wine issues that gives a certain gravitas and magnitude to these discussions for his articles in newsprint cause people to stand up and take notice.  Agree with him or not, I don’t think Robert Parker is spending the time online engaging his readers the way Rogov does.

With my only contact at this point with Rogov (as he often signs his correspondence) being online, it was a result of a cancelled meeting one day in Tel Aviv recently that I followed up on an opportunity to meet this iconic figure in Israeli food and wine.  We met at a local coffee shop on Basel Street (or Bazel Street… Tel Aviv maps and street signs are infamous for having multiple inconsistent English spellings of the same street on different street signs… I think Ibn Givrol might be the worst offender). Of course he preferred sitting outside, he’s a reknowned smoker (more about that later) though it was a dripping hot sticky humid summer day. We sat for about an hour with Rogov interviewing me at first as much as I interviewed him.

Daniel Rogov and David Rhodes at a coffee shop in Tel Aviv: Where’s the wine at?

Although he is incredibly active on various internet sites, he says it’s disturbing how anonymous some people remain in discussion forums and how cowardly it is to attack others who post their real identity while the attackers often hide behind screen names. So I guess, the fact that I not only posted my name and my contact information and that in our online discussions/debates my opinions may have seemed less based on conjecture than others, he agreed it would be good to put a face to who we were talking to online.

Now that being said, I was innately curious about how the meeting might progress. I had mentioned to him about how I had wanted to interview him for this site but I thought by our discussion on the phone it might be a pre-interview introduction more than anything else. Yet, the casual get together quickly gave way to the give and take of an interview and he was very careful to say what was on the record and what was not for publication. He often would interject with personal anecdotes that made for a quicker sense of familiarity than otherwise might have happened at our first meeting and made for a less stuffy start to my afternoon.

Rogov has a certain charm about him that is disarming even though he can’t seem or doesn’t care to censor his comments for effect on how it might offend others. For instance, when I made contact with him and I asked him where he lived, he responded with “the Holy City”, (then a pregnant pause) Tel Aviv. Now I thought it was funny but he didn’t know me and I could see how it could offend others the wrong way and maybe as someone who’s been a critic for decades his work and habits of expressing comments and opinions have given him a poetic license to always say what’s on his mind. Friends of mine may say that I might exhibit a similar trait but maybe that’s why writers need editors.  In fact, some of his most vocal critics seem to be religious Jews living in Israel who wished he would refrain from reviewing non-kosher wines and non-kosher restaurants.Maybe his new book about strictly, the best kosher wines in the world will be seen as an act of contrition to the kosher consumer. With over 1300 kosher wineries in the world (there’s only about 2-300 Israeli wineries many of them which are non-kosher) writing about world-wide kosher wineries might be even a more daunting task than writing exclusively about Israeli wines and Rogov does propose that he has probably tasted more kosher wines than anyone else in the world.

Now with only an hour or so for our first meeting (and I hope one day I’ll be able to sit and actually drink wine with him instead of meeting over coffee) there was a lot of questions left unasked for another day but Rogov was good at cutting to the chase. In explaining what he saw as the role of the critic, he asserted that a critic should write “what you perceive as the truth.” This opened up to the disclaimer that “…critics are not always right. We make mistakes. We’re human”. Yet, he proclaimed his “only boss is the readers” of what he writes.

This article was first written on Travelujah and reprinted with permission.

All of the wines scored between 87-93 points, including the following 3 90+ point wines:

1. Margalit, Cabernet Sauvignon, Special Reserve, 2007: 93 points
2. Margalit, Enigma, 2007: 90 points
2. Vitkin, Carignan, 2007. 90 points

‘TASTED’ is arguably the finest wine magazine you will have seen in your life, or maybe even the most stylish of any magazine that you will ever see. Visually the photographs are sensational and lifelike. Each magazine is a collectors’ item, to be kept & browsed through, like the finest coffee table book. The magazine is published twice a year and there a various special editions such as the ‘New York’ edition or ’Vinexpo’ edition. It sells for EUR 24 or US$35 an issue.

Most interesting for Israel watchers, are two articles recently published.

The ‘Summer 2010 Edition’ also contains an article on Israeli wine entitled:

“Israel: From Baron Rothschild To Robert Parker,” written by Adam Montefiore.

The ‘Winter 2010-2011 New York Edition’ contains an article on Yatir Winery entitled:

“Yatir Winery: Wine From The Forest.”

The Yatir article is in the latest edition. Yatir Winery is featured in the section called ‘Wine of The World’, and it precedes a special article on Chateau Mouton Rothschild. On the back cover is an advertisement of Chateau Lafite Rothschild. The magazine also features the most famous chefs in the worlds including Joel Robuchon, Alain Ducasse, Charlie Trotter and Ferran Adria. In short, this a good place for an Israeli wine to be.

However  most impressive is the fact that Michel Rolland, arguably the most famous winemaker in the world, provides a tasting note on Yatir Forest, the flagship wine of Yatir Winery. His notes were as follows:

“Yatir Forest – Judean Hills, 2006 – After a very beautiful dark garnet colour, slightly veiled (absence of filtration?) very attractive aromas of ripe fruits, rather black fruits (blackberries). Many of freshness in mouth, balanced with an attractive weft of tannins, rather silky. Wooden ageing is controlled, finale is rather long. Wine for laying down which will age well. Optimum 2012-2015. Will accompany any shape of meats magnificently and thanks to the quality of the tannin can be drunk in any circumstances.”

M. Rolland

Both articles and details of the magazines, may be found at the following link:

http://www.tastedonline.com/?go=home

The article on Israel is on page 350 of the Summer 2010 Edition of TASTED.

The article on Yatir Winery is on page 58 of the Winter 2010-2011 New York Edition of TASTED.

As Decanter described it:

Carmel Winery in Upper Galilee has beaten some of the world’s most renowned producers of Syrah and Shiraz at the Decanter World Wine Awards.

The Galilean winery last night won the Red Rhone Varietals Over £10 trophy for its Kayoumi Single Vineyard Shiraz 2008.

The winery, which this year celebrates its 120th harvest, was competing against some of the world’s most significant producers for the Red Rhone Varietal trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards.

In the Rhone, names like Cellier des Dauphins, Guigal, Gabriel Meffre, Chene Bleu, Chapoutier were all up for the top prize

As were the Australians: Cape Mentelle, E&E, Charles Melton, d’Arenberg, Shaw & Smith among others.

The Kayoumi would have been tasted alongside these wines. Judges found it ‘Big, chunky, with earthy fruit, good spice and grip. Intense and voluptuous on the palate with plenty of oak. Great persistence and texture.’

That is a tasting note that any Shiraz producer would be proud of.

Israeli wines are not insignificant, and neighbouring Lebanon has some of the most renowned wineries in the world, but this is the first time they have taken a trophy from under the noses of the traditional producers.

Howard G Goldberg, decanter.com’s New York correspondent and an expert on wines from the Middle East, said, ‘Kayoumi has been delivering first-class single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon as well asa Shiraz and Chardonnay.’

He added that the victory comes at ‘a special moment for the Galilean winery, whose first harvest was in 1890.

Carmel was established as a vintners’ cooperative in 1882 with financing from Baron Edmond de Rothschild. It is Israel’s largest producer, with more than 13m bottles a year.

This is the first time since the 1990’s that an Israeli wine has received this prestigious award. Decanter is one of the world’s most famous wine magazines with their contributors being a Who’s Who of the world of wine.  They include Hugh Johnson, Michael Broadbent, Stephen Brook, Stephen Spurrier and Andrew Jefford, amongst many others.

The Appellation Petite Sirah Old Vines is produced from 40 year old vines in the Judean Hills. The same wine also won a Gold Medal in the leading Israeli competition, Eshkol Ha’zahav. It is made 100% from Petite Sirah, an underrated variety and Israel is fast getting a name for producing it really well.

So far it has been a very successful year for Carmel both in Israel and internationally. The year the company celebrates its 120^th harvest has been a golden year. In recent months Carmel Winery:

• Received four gold medals at the BEST VALUE 2010 competition, which was the best equal result by any Israeli winery.
• Received four gold medals at the Eshkol Ha’Zahav 2010 competition – more than any other Israeli Winery.
• Won a Trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2010 for Kayoumi Shiraz 2006. Carmel is the only Israeli winery to receive a Trophy in international competition this year. (A Trophy is one step above a Gold Medal.)
• Received the equal top score for an Israeli wine in a tasting by the Wine Spectator
• Carmel’s subsidiary Yatir Winery was awarded 91 points for the Yatir Forest 2004 and 2006 by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. Therefore Yatir Forest 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 have now each been awarded between 90 – 93 pints by Robert Parker.
• Carmel’s 120 Brandy was awarded 95 points by Daniel Rogov.
• And now the Appellation Petite Sirah Old Vines has been selected at Wine of The Month by Decanter. An extremely rare award for an Israeli wine.

While there is a plethora of blogs, magazines, and other media in Hebrew about Israeli wine, there is very little information available to the English-language audience. However, with the release of two new guidebooks from Israeli wine critic, Daniel Rogov, there’s no excuse left to not drink good kosher and Israeli wine.

Daniel Rogov’s Guide to Israeli Wines 2010 is the fifth edition of Rogov’s annual reviews of Israeli wines and each year the guide keeps on getting bigger. Daniel Rogov, the wine critic for the Israeli Ha’aretz newspaper and a contributor to Hugh Johnson and Tom Stevenson’s wine guides, tastes wines from the transformed Carmel Winery (who have followed an amazing revolution not only in their top level wines but also scoring high marks in their mid- and low-range series, Private Collection and Selected) to the medium-sized Teperberg, Pelter, and Tzora to the great tiny wineries, still unknown outside of Israel, like Sea Horse and Ye’arim.

For observers of Israeli wine, one of the most exciting things in Rogov’s Guide to Israeli Wine is his list of the top Israeli wines and wineries. This year, Daniel Rogov decided that he couldn’t limit his list of the best wines to just 10 top wines, but instead lists the 25 highest scoring wines (some widely available in the United States while others are available only in Israel’s finest restaurants and wine shops). In addition, while your memories of Israeli wine may include disparaging comments about Carmel, which has been producing wine in Israel for over a hundred years, they also make Rogov’s list of the 10 best wine producers, along with their sister-winery, Yatir. Other wineries making the list of Israel’s best 10 wineries include Golan Heights Winery, Flam, Pelter, Castel, and Galil Mountain.

Besides Rogov’s exclusive tasting notes of the constantly improving world of Israeli wines (which make the book worth it themselves), the Guide to Israeli Wines also includes introductory sections describing the Land of Israel’s 2000-year-old wine history, information on grape varieties in Israel and vintage reports since 1976.

Despite the fact that while most Israeli wines are kosher, most Israeli wineries are not. Therefore, Rogov also includes a short description of the rules to make kosher wine and a brief description of the kosher wine making process. It’s worth nothing that Rogov, certainly not an observant Jew, remarks that “there need be no contradiction whatsoever between the laws of kashrut and the production of fine wine.” Yet, for too long kosher wine — particularly that made outside of Israel — had cultural connections either to cheap plonk or sickly sweet Concord grape (an American innovation, it must be noted – in Europe and Israel, Jews have always drank dry kosher wine) that charitably reminded those unlucky enough to drink it to cough medicine.

That world of undrinkable kosher wine is long gone, as Rogov’s new book, Guide to Kosher Wine 2010, attests. While Daniel Rogov has long been recognized as an authority of kosher wine not only of Israel, it has taken time for quality kosher wine to be produced by wine makers outside of Israel. And, even today, most of the best kosher wines still come from Israel. Therefore, until this year Rogov did not see a need to produce a separate guide to the world’s best kosher wines, because many of them were listed in Rogov’s guides to Israeli wines.

While there have been some quality wines being produced for quite some time, most Jews are exposed to kosher wine in kosher restaurants or s’machot. However, unlike in Israel and Europe, most kosher caterers and kosher restaurants only serve wines that are mevushal (flash pasteurized). With rare exception (such as California’s Herzog and HaGafen wineries), the best kosher wines are not mevushal. Of the 500 best kosher wines from around the world, very few of them (and none in Israel) are mevushal. Thus, even much of the kosher-drinking public in North America are not familiar with most of the world’s best kosher wines.

Top kosher wines come in all styles – from a dry red Syrah, to a refreshing rose, or a fruity Sauvignon Blanc, to a sweet dessert wine like a late harvest Riesling or Gewurtzraminer. Rogov’s extensive list, divided by region and style, covers wines not only from Israel but also from the likes of France, Italy, America, Hungary, Austria, South Africa, South America, and more. This extensive guide underscores the diversity of kosher wine, from the Italian Barbera D’Alba to the Californian Zinfandel and the Israeli Syrah and the Spanish Cava.

While the diversity and unfamiliar terms can be overwhelming at times, particularly for those readers who are unfamiliar with most wines and overwhelmed by the variety and diversity, both Daniel Rogov’s Guide to Israeli Wine and Guide to Kosher Wine provide a guide to the best way to learn about wine: drinking different wines and deciding what you like best. Daniel Rogov also helps the new wine drinker with a helpful dictionary of terms that appear in the book, as well as descriptions of wine varietals, and suggestions for how to taste and evaluate wine.

Both Daniel Rogov’s Guide to Israeli Wine and his new Guide to Kosher Wine have enough information and new reviews to satisfy the most dedicated and committed oenophiles, as well as useful information, articles, and essays to educate those whose memories of kosher and Israeli wines leave a little something to be desired.

L’Chaim! To Life! And good wine from Israel and around the world. Luckily, Daniel Rogov’s new guides will make it much easier to find this. They also make excellent holiday gifts for Chanukkah or Christmas.

One of the most interesting sections of Daniel Rogov’s Israeli wine tasting guide is his annual ranking of the Top 10 Best Wineries in Israel.

In 2009, Daniel Rogov picked the following wineries:

1. Golan Heights Winery (Katzrin, Yarden, Gamla)
2. Margalit
3. Yatir
4. Domaine du Castel
5. Clos de Gat
6. Flam
7. Chateau Golan
8. Carmel (Limited Edition, Single Vineyard, Appellation)
9. Galil Mountain
10. Pelter

I suspect, however, that there will be the some changes in Daniel Rogov’s 2010 Guide to Israeli Wine.

What do you think? Can you predict Rogov? Outguess other readers?