Boycott Israeli wine! No, really, start a boycott of Israeli wine! Have I gone nuts? Too much time in Israel has made me anti-Israel? No, rather, perhaps you should boycott Israeli wine because that will lead to more Israeli wine being bought! Does that make any sense? Well, yes, this is what happened last April when a group of Canadians called for a boycott of Israeli wine – the community went out and bought Israeli wine. Of course I don’t […]

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Good wine isn’t just in the center or Jerusalem. It’s also coming to Beersheva, with the fifth annual wine festival to be held on September 14-15. The 5th Annual Beer Sheva wine festival is scheduled to take place on Wednesday and Thursday, 14 and 15 September. Among the wineries scheduled to take part: Carmel, Bakan, Segal, Golan Heights Winery, Galil Mountain, Tzion, Teperberg, Lavie, Binyamina, Tishbi, Shiloh, Rota, Cfir, Netiv HaYain, Assif, Yaffo, Kahanov, Yaffo, Tsfat HaAttika, Tisbi, Saslove. The […]

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Buy The Ultimate Rogov’s Guide to Israeli Wines The following is printed with permission of the author The ultimate, and final, Rogov Guide has been published. It contains nearly 687 pages. Last years version had a mere 603 pages! This year there is no International kosher wine Guide, nor a version in Hebrew. The book is published by Toby Press, the publisher, which has provided a wonderful service to Israeli wine over the years. Rogov’s Guide was first published in 2005 and […]

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Jewish holidays are full of wine. On Shabbat, evening and morning, Jews say the kiddush (sanctification) blessing over wine. On Jewish holidays, we also say the blessings over wine. However, on one holiday, it really is all about wine — on Passover, in addition to the holiday meals during the day and the last day or two (2 days outside of Israel, 1 in Israel) of the week-long holiday, Jews have to drink four cups of wine at the seder […]

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The following is also from wines-israel, reprinted with permission Food & wine writer and critic, Daniel Rogov, passed away on the morning of September 7th 2011 at his home in Tel Aviv. We send our sincere condolences to his wife in Israel and family in the United States. Born in Brooklyn, New York, David Joroff discovered his love for wine and food when visiting Europe and particularly during lengthy stays in Switzerland and France. However he was better known by the name he used […]

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Keeping up with the Jones is tough.  Keeping up with the Mondavi’s is even harder.  Cabernets, Merlots, and even Zinfandels from California to France keep getting top headlines and top scores.  With the Israeli wine scene growing by the day, coming up with the right taste for an ever evolving pallet is the biggest challenge any winery has. So what’s an up and coming winery to do?  Blend, blend, and blend some more. Two such wineries, Agur and Tulip, have […]

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The following are words that I wrote in tribute of Daniel Rogov. I sent this to Rogov before he died. Rogov, you were a true mentor and will be missed. There are many people in the wine industry who have been greatly influenced by Daniel Rogov, who brought international standards to Israeli wine and brought the story of Israeli wine to the international audience. Daniel Rogov has been commended by many of the wine greats. At Rogov’s tribute evening, Howard […]

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The term ‘Sommelier’ is the one of the most abused words in the Israel wine scene. Anyone who serves wine in a restaurant is referred to as a sommelier and people who complete wine courses also use the term loosely. Of course, a real sommelier is something virtually unknown in Israel. The genuine article will have spent years learning their trade. They will be responsible for purchasing good value, unusual and high quality wines from around the world. They will […]

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Rogov’s Reviews: Sophisticated Benyamina 9, Jul 2008 Tweet Daniel Rogov has a positive review of the Benyamina Winery in last week’s Ha’aretz. Benyamina is a large winery, often overlooked. It’s great to see that this Israeli winery is constantly improving. Wine and Spirits / Sophisticated Binyamina By Daniel Rogov That Binyamina winery is on the way up is beyond question. With far […] Rogov tastes whites 8, Jun 2008 Tweet It’s summer time and that means it’s time to break […]

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New Hebrew words for wine 24, Mar 2009 Tweet In honor of the Passover holiday, which features lots of wine, and the growing wine culture in Hebrew, the Hebrew Language Academy (yes, for better or worse, there is such a thing) has come up with Hebrew words for wine-related terminology. The Academia L’Lashon HaIvrit was established by the Israeli Government in 1953 as […] In: Wine industry Tags: hebrew, Hebrew language, wine terminology Israelis are drinking more and more quality […]

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