The partner wineries in the Handcrafted Wines of Israel project recently met for a report of activities in 2004 and to discuss the plan for 2005.  Eight of the ten partner wineries were present: Amphorae, Chillag, Flam, Hamasrek, Margalit, Saslove, Tzora & Yatir. The Bazelet ha Golan & Flam Winery were not present because of holidays abroad. The evening was hosted by David Ziv, CEO of Carmel Winery at Claudine Restaurant in Yehud.

Oded Shoham of Carmel Winery, who manages the consortium, was able to report sales of over 35,000 bottles in the first twelve months. This was considered extremely encouraging because the initial forecast, taking into account the average prices of the boutique wineries, was for sales of 12,000 bottles. In the first year of operation, Handcrafted Wines of Israel were sold to nine countries, some of which have re-ordered. They are: Canada, England, France, Holland, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.

Handcrafted Wines of Israel was founded in February 2004 with the objective of advancing ‘Brand Israel’ as a quality wine producing country. The consortium will next appear at Prowein in Germany at the beginning of March, at the Export Institute Tasting in London at the end of March and at Vinitaly in April.

Feb 2005