Culture
Boutique wineries: Pioneers and dreamers
Adam Montefiore
Published: 11.10.07, 17:24
Comment Comment
Print comment Print comment
Back to article
9 Talkbacks for this article
1. Boutiques
A reader ,   USA   (10.11.07)
What Mr. Montefiore leaves out about so-called boutique wines is that they are unable to sell their wine in any appreciable quantity, because they are not meeting the needs of their customers. Successful wineries in Israel, of which there are many, make excellent kosher wine. WIneries which wish to be unsuccessful make tiny quantities of non-kosher wine. Basically, they are poor marketers are are doomed to close, because they do not make what customers want.
2. The only thing I miss about New York
notme ,   jerusalem   (10.11.07)
is the Homebrew shop in nearly every commercial center.
3. American reader get w/program all wineries mentioned in
article r kosher! ,   an Israeli   (10.12.07)
4. Israeli wine, "I'll drink to that"
Petra ,   USA   (10.12.07)
Mazel Tov!
5. Comment #3
A reader ,   USA   (10.12.07)
The author of #3 does not know of what he speaks-Margalit Winery, Chateau Golan and Clos de Gat at least are not kosher-certified, at least. Israeli wineries which make non-kosher wine may continue to do so, but it will always be in truly tiny amounts due to lack of demand. Israeli wineries which wish to succeed will make excellent wine which is kosher. There are many excellent Israeli kosher wineries, ranging from large to boutique. Those like Adam Montefiore and Daniel Rogov who glorify the one percent of wine which is not certified kosher in Israel are doing a disservice to the Israeli wine industry. Learn to market excellent wine which is kosher.
6. Jewish Americans Could Create Demand
Bruce ,   Kentucky, USA   (10.12.07)
I'm a non-Jewish liquor store owner. There are sizable congregations near my shop. If there was demand, I would proudly stock Israeli wines--especially since they help keep the Muslims away, LOL. Wine-loving Jewish Americans could help create demand in the US by ordering 6-9 bottles at a time, thereby giving retailers an incentive to shelve the remainders of full cases and introduce others to Israeli wine.
7. to no 5
fish   (10.14.07)
You obviously don't know how this market works - to make wine kosher costs a lot of extra expenses, and for the winery which makes some 3-4-5- th bottles a year, it's just not needed - in any case they will not sell to kosher supermarket chains, as they don't have delivery and logistical tools for that. So they create the wine they like and sell it to those who wants to buy such wine because of its fantastic qualities, not because it is JUST kosher. And with all due respect, the kosher thing is blown out of all proportion - I understand that pork, seafood ain't kosher, but I had a huge laugh when I saw a kosher sign on toothpaste and toilet paper. The Kosher industry is worth NIS 1bln per year, and while it certainly helps observant customers with the choice , it stifles the free trade, limits the choice of innocent products which aren't certified kosher for many reasons ( financial primarily). I will give you an example - I import a food product into Israel which was certified Kosher in South Africa by a local rabbi there. But even being Kosher there, it is not kosher here, because the existent kosher certificate is valid for SA only. In order to get a kosher certificate which will be valid here, I have to pay USD 2K per year, and bingo - the product is kosher. You may say what you want, but something doesn't smell right for me.... Pay and pray, eh?
8. To # 7
A reader ,   USA   (10.16.07)
Like I said, those Israeli wineries which decide they wish to be unsuccessful will continue to make tiny amounts of non-kosher wine for themselves and few others-there is no demand for it. Also, the heart bleeds for the "trouble" gone through to be Jewish-it's just too costly! So, #7, we're sorry to "bother" you to make quality kosher wine like everyone else already does. Go back to trading notes with Adam Montefiore and Daniel Rogov about how wonderful the latest 'boutique' winery which makes almost no wine is, and how you're SO sorry, but they just couldn't be bothered to make it kosher. The rest of us will be drinking the many superb quality Israeli kosher wines.
9. www.batzir.co.il
Great boutique wines ,   (Hebrew)   (11.16.07)
Great wines.
Back to article