Nine wineries – Bazelet ha Golan, Castel, Chillag, Flam, Hamasrek, Margalit, Saslove, Tzora & Yatir- have exported wines to the United Kingdom in the last month.

There they will be represented by Carmitas Wines, a new importing & distribution company situated in North West London. Carmitas distributes Carmel’s wines & also has some major Italian agencies.

Carmitas is divided in two sub divisions. Carmel Winery UK will sell Israeli & kosher wines in the kosher market. The kosher ‘Handcrafted’ wines to be sold in this division are from the following wineries:

Domaine du Castel

Chillag

Hamasrek

Saslove

Tzora

Yatir

Both Orna Chillag & Barry Saslove, whose wines are usually not kosher, have each made kosher wine at Carmel’s Zichron Ya’acov & Rishon Le Zion wineries respectively. Castel & Tzora wineries have recently started to produce kosher wines.

The other division, Carmitas, will specialize in Italian & Israeli wines in the general wine market but also lists wines from all the major wine producing countries. They will list wines from the following Israeli wineries:

Bazelet ha Golan

Domaine du Castel

Flam

Margalit

Yatir

Carmel’s wine & spirits will obviously be represented by Carmel Winery U.K. & their finest Single Vineyard wines will also be sold by Carmitas

Mario Penge is the Managing Director of Carmitas Wines. He used to work for Hallgarten Wines, managed their Italian Division & was Brand Manager for Golan Heights Winery. He says: “ I have long admired the quality & variety of Israeli wines. Carmitas gives a real distribution opportunity for Israeli wines to succeed. We import the finest Israeli wines of every style, from every region & at every price point. We offer an Israeli answer to every market sector, whether kosher or non kosher.”

December 2004