I don't know if this is the appropriate place to say this, but as sad as it is for those of us who knew Rogov personally that he isn't with us, it has really been a bummer for the Israeli wine industry as well.
In this past week's Ha'aretz article on Rosh Hashanna wines
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/for ... m-1.464698 there are a number of interesting points one can get without getting around the paywall.
First, the article is written by Anshel Pfeffer, who is normally a political commentator and while perhaps a wine-lover, does not have the same charisma as Rogov did, nor does he have anywhere near the breadth of experience. So, in short, Ha'aretz still doesn't have a 'wine guy'.
That leads to the second point, which is echoed in the first lines of the article, that Israeli wine is in a major slump right now. Without all the hype and exposure Rogov created, there is simply a vacuum in the marketing departments of most wineries. Not even Mark Squires with his prime position in Robert Parker's enterprise could have impacted the world of Israeli wine as much as Rogov did. Rogov's scores, as debatable as they were, and his strong opinions, as clumsy as they might have been at times, were important for the Israeli wine industry.
There might be other factors in the Israeli wine slump, such as generally unease in the Israeli public at this time in history, and certainly we can even blame Rogov for over-hyping a good many wineries, while trying to convince all of us that 100NIS a bottle for mediocre wine was okay. But in any case, the survival of the fittest race has gotten off to an early start, and Rogov left us all too soon, in my opinion.
Ultimately, it will probably be good for the Israeli wine industry, but still the hype-machine enabled a good many, like Carmel, for instance, to get off the ground and get their act together in order to pass through the next hurdle. I would argue such wineries would not have been in that position if not, at least in part, for the role played by Rogov and his Ha'aretz column.
Aside from praising Rogov, I do hope that the Israeli wine industry can steer itself towards a place that is slightly beyond where the average Israeli palate is today. Unfortunately, I fear that in the short term, instead of people becoming more sophisticated, they will actually become less sophisticated and rely even more on the incredibly poor advise of most wine-shop salespeople, as well as friends and family members who tend to go for high-alcohol, overly ripe, overly-oaked, red, blockbusters. And unfortunately, many Israeli wineries still gain a lot of prestige within the country from the mere fact that they have the chutzpa to sell their crap for 200NIS.
Keep it real, keep it civil, and keep it focused on the main thing, wine. Friends, that's Rogov's most important legacy.
Best,
joel