Wine sales soar ahead of Passover
Some 54 million wine bottles manufactured in Israel a year, BDI economists say; sales total NIS 730 million in 2006
The number of wine bottle manufactured in Israel also rose by 4 percent last year, amounting to approximately 54 million bottles.
BDI data show that ahead of the holiday of Passover, like during the period before the Jewish New Year, the wine industry saw a rise of more than 40 percent in sales compared to previous months.
There are about 250 wineries in Israel's win industry. A rise in the number of boutique wineries operating in Israel has also contributed to the rise in the consumption of wine, and today there are more than 150 boutique wineries manufacturing less than 100,000 bottles a year.
A large number of the boutique wineries manufacture non-kosher wine, and thus find it difficult to sell their products in large supermarkets and stores.
Red wine accounts for 60 percent of market
About 50 percent of wine sales are in exports to the United States. France and Britain follow with 10 and 9 percent of exported wine, respectively.
The second Lebanon war damaged wine exports in 2006, as part of the wineries located in the north of Israel were unable to work and some vineyards were destroyed.
The BDI data reveal that red wine accounts for 60 percent of Israel's wine market. More than half of wine bottles sold in Israel are cheap wine, while expensive wine accounts for 15 percent of sales.
