On June 1st 2005, The Israel Wine Institute has announced the setting up of a government supported committee dedicated to increase exports of Israeli wines.
The committee will made up of representatives from the wineries, the Wine & Grapes Board, the Ministry of Agriculture & the Ministry of Trade & Industry.
Their brief will be to review & update the wine growing regions of Israel and to ensure they are registered in the European Community and by the BATF in America. They wish to standardize the labeling & designation of wines and avoid abuse of words like Reserve & Special Reserve. They will also set quality standards for wines intended for export.
The Israel Wine Institute was set up in 1957. It is a branch of the Standards Institute of Israel, which regulates the local food & wine industry & part of the Ministry of Trade & Industry. Up to now the main brief has been to analyze local & imported alcoholic beverages & to maintain standards in the Teken – the Wine Standards.
The first director was Frenchman, Charles Loinger. The current director is Shlomo Cohen. Many industry observers have complained about the wine institute’s effectiveness & usefulness. The new activities since Yaron Kimche became Chairman are encouraging and this new emphasis on exports is a welcome effort to update the relevance of the Wine Institute’s work.
June 2005
