My name is Avi Davidowitz, author of Kosher Wine Unfiltered. To start, let me set this right out – I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL WINE REVIEWER. I make a living in the hi-tech industry, having started out in the early ’90’s. I made Aliyah with my family from New York City to Beit Shemesh were I still live today. I have been drinking wine and spirits since a relatively early age. The goal of this site is to give you my honest opinion on every wine I drink  – whether that ends up being positive or negative. Why? Often times it is difficult to find a negative review about a bottle of wine in a newspaper or on-line. Either everything that these people drink is excellent, they have no palate or there is a conflict of interest somewhere – often in some combination. This is especially true in print – in Israel. With the  passing of Daniel Rogov, objective wine criticism in Israel has all but disappeared – certainly in English.  In America, in print, in the kosher world at least, finding critical opinions has never been easy. At least on-line, the kosher world is blessed with 2 excellent wine bloggers,  whose blogs I warmly recommend – Yossie Horwitz of Yossie’s Corkboard and David Raccah of Kosher Wine Musings. Yossie only writes about wines he likes – so HaMayvin Yavin – and David will give you his clear opinion on each wine he tastes. Again – both blogs are excellent and neither David nor Yossie make their living in the industry making them objective. The only problem is they are both based in the US – Yossie on the East Coast in NY and David on the west in CA. We in Israel don’t have access to many of the wines that are available in the US (or they are priced in the stratosphere). Likewise, we in Israel have access to many wines that are not available abroad. So a second goal  – besides giving an unfiltered opinion – is to provide Israel based coverage to a greater extent than is currently available online in English.

Lastly, some people like Old World style wines that show more restraint and some like New World fruit forward wines. I can honestly say that I believe there is what to like in both styles – and at all price points. For me balance is the key – if it’s balanced, I’ll likely enjoy it – and it will likely go well with food – which for me is really the whole point. Not that I don’t enjoy drinking a glass of wine by itself – I do . But ultimately, I get the most enjoyment from both food and wine when they complement each other – and that is how I judge wine. Professional? Definitely not – but judging something based on external criteria and if it conforms to a specific list of blah, blah, blah is just not for me.  I want to know if it is enjoyable – or not  and whether or not it is worth it  at the given price.  And that is my intent going forward with this blog.

Looking forward to getting to know you through comments – or through e-mail avi@kosherwineunfiltered.com .