The Israeli wine industry gathered together on June 9^th 2005 to discuss ‘Israel’s Place in the International Wine Market.’ The meeting was held at the Galilee town of Rosh Pina, developed by Baron Edmond de Rothschild, founder of the Israel wine industry. A winery was also initially built there, but unlike Rothschild’s other wineries in Rishon Le Zion & Zichron Ya’acov, this one did not develop or survive.

The symposium was organized by the Israel Wine & Grapes Board, the Ben Gurion University of The Negev & the local Rosh Pina Council.

Guest of honor was the famous wine marketing guru, Prof. Larry Lockshin from the University of South Australia, who has been part of the extraordinary development of the Australian wine industry. Speakers included some the leading figures from the local wine industry.

Dudu Baram, the Director of the Israel Wine & Grapes Board opened the proceedings. Then, Hanan Bazak, Chairman of the Israel Wine & Grapes Board, explained the place of Israel in the global wine market & the importance of exports to the Israel wine industry. This Board is part of the Ministry of Agriculture. It is seen as important to increase exports of Israeli wines to provide an outlet for the planting of new vineyards.

Prof. Larry Lockshin gave enlightening lectures on the successful development of the Australian wine industry, brand building & marketing and wine tourism.  He explained how the big wineries collaborate and that they succeed not by generic advertising but by collaborative promotions. The Australian Wine Export Council organizes marketing committees in each market to oversee promotional efforts.

He attributed the success of New World wines to the emphasis on brands. He compared the different strategy for expensive & for less expensive brands & explained that a number of different activities are necessary to build brand associations in the mind of buyers.

His final lecture emphasized that local wine tourism was crucial to building a successful brand. He spoke about the importance of the ‘ growing region’ to wine consumers & the messages that wineries could give by the way they present themselves when hosting tourists or wine lovers.

Prof. Ben-Ami Bravdo, a professor of viticulture from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and Israel’s representative to O.I.V., presented some figures about vineyards & production in the world market.  The rise of China and the surplus of vineyards in the world were subjects he talked about.

Doron Rand, ex Managing Director of Recanati Winery, is presently setting up  a company in California called ‘Fine Israeli Wines Inc.’ to develop Israeli wines in America. He explained the history of Israeli winemaking from the founding of Carmel by Baron Edmond de Rothschild, through the quality revolution pioneered by Golan Heights Winery in the 1980’s, to the boutique explosion in the 1990’s. He explained now was the right time to focus on export because of the potential in the market & the quality of wineries.

Yaron Kimche, the Chairman of the Israel Wine Institute – part of the Trade & Industry Ministry, reported that exports in 2004 reached US $ 13.2. This was an increase of 15% on the previous year. Israeli wines were exported to 57 countries but 70% of the exports were to three countries: U.S.A., France and the U.K. He talked about his plans to brand Israeli wines & to increase sales in export markets.

 Dr. Eli Cohen  from the Ben Gurion University of The Negev, gave a talk on the importance of building brands and surveying the market to find the right product for the right consumer.

Adam Montefiore, Marketing Director of Carmel Winery, spoke about the success of  ‘Handcrafted Wines of Israel.’ This is a consortium of boutique wineries set up by Carmel in 2004. After just over a year’s trading, he reported sales to 11 countries totalling US $ 450,000. He explained the process of branding, the main activities including tastings, exhibitions etc. and suggested how he thought Israeli wines should position themselves in world markets.

Daniel Rogov, Israel’s most famous wine correspondent, Food & Wine writer for Ha’aretz Newspaper and author of Rogov’s Guide To Israeli Wines, spoke about boutique wineries. He suggested that Israeli wines had to be unique and of high quality, with the unique signature of the winemaker. He did not envisage development of wines with an Israeli character but what he termed, a Mediterranean style. He said there was no place for mediocrity and boutique wineries must strive for three things: quality, quality & quality!

Shmuel Boxer, Managing Director of Barkan,  explained how in the local market nothing much had changed in 30 years: the harvest in 2003 was similar in size to the harvest in 1973. He then outlined what had changed, highlighting the growth in planting of quality varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot and the relative decline of Carignan in the last 10 years, emphasizing the move to quality by the wine grower, the winery & the wine consumer.

At the end of the day Hanan Bazak chaired a panel, which included the managing directors of the main wineries. Members were:

Shmuel Boxer – Managing Director of Barkan Wine Cellars

Ilan Hasson – Managing Director of Binyamina Wine Cellars

Adam Montefiore – Marketing Director of Carmel Winery

Moti Teperberg – Owner & Managing Director of Efrat Winery

Eli Ben Zaken – Owner of Domaine du Castel

They were asked if the Australian model could be used as a blueprint for increasing Israeli exports. The main answers were that Israel had much to learn from Australia, but because of Israel’s  size, smaller countries, like New Zealand, were more relevant. The panelists stressed the importance of the industry working together.

Hanan Bazak closed the day, summarizing the new efforts to co-ordinate activities between the Wine & Grapes Board, Wine Institute & the wineries.

The day ended with a light dinner of Galilean cheeses & vegetables underneath the tall, trellised vines of Meshek Blum accompanied with the wines of Carmel, Barkan, Golan, Efrat, Binyamina, Tishbi, Dalton, Recanati & Castel.

June 2005