While most business owners are struggling to make ends meet during the coronavirus crisis, the Israeli wine industry seems to be bubbling over with interest from secular and Haredi, young and old, professional winemakers and wine enthusiasts.
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Social distancing, morbidity, the death toll damage to businesses, and the general uncertainty that the coronavirus pandemic brought has fostered brought entire private sector industries to their knees and millions have lost their livelihood.
Nevertheless, not all is bleak and some have been able to not only keep their heads above water but also thrive during the pandemic. Alongside the online stores, delivery companies, and video communication companies like Zoom, the pandemic seems to have given perhaps an unusual player center stage: Wine.
The Bana Mashkaot alcoholic beverage chain, for example, has expanded since the pandemic hit in March 2020, and now has 28 branches all over Israel. It is planning to expand further by opening ten more stores in 2021.
The chain's marketing manager Fanny Bachar told Israel Hayom that surprisingly, it isn't just "wine, vodka and whiskey" that are being sold at the moment, but mostly products that weren't that popular before the pandemic, like liqueurs and tequila.
"We've also seen an increase in female customers, who purchase our products online much more often than before," she said.
Other chains, like Wine Route and Wine in the City, and even the Shufersal supermarket chain have reported increased demand for wine and other alcoholic drinks.
Meanwhile, not only have wine sales peaked but a vibrant wine scene has developed in Israel, where wine lovers and collectors purchase spirits that are no longer on the market rather are only available from private collections.
This is a recent development. Only a few months ago, the wine collecting scene was limited to an elite group of enthusiasts, but since the outbreak of the pandemic, it has expanded greatly, with countless WhatsApp and Facebook groups for wine aficionados.
What's fascinating is that not every bottle of wine has a price tag. Often its cost is determined in an auction, which offers excitement similar to casinos and gambling. It's a world of brands, in which the price of coveted bottles can reach hundreds, sometimes even thousands of shekels for a single bottle.
Wine enthusiasts are not only doctors, lawyers, and millionaires, but religious and secular Israelis, rightists and leftists, young and old. There are also those whose businesses were affected by the pandemic, so they decided to transition to the wine trade because they realized it is a reliable source of livelihood during such challenging times. It turns out, passion for wine can bring together people from all walks of life.
Ofer Hershkowitz is an engineer from Rishon Lezion and a wine enthusiast.
Hershkowitz, who says he was a bartender, waiter, and sommelier at various restaurants when he was younger, said it was his work through which "I was exposed to the world of wine. Later I took wine courses, worked at Soreq Winery, and even took part in the grape harvest there, together with [owner] Barry Saslove.
"In 1992 I met Carmi Levenstein, who at the time was the marketing director of Carmel Mizrahi [now Carmel Winery], and we opened the Wine Parliament on Rothschild [Street], which a lot of celebs visited, like Israel Flam [then chief winemaker at Carmel Mizrahi,] various painters like [Yaacov] Agam and [Menashe] Kadisman, mayors and ministers.
"This was the time when Margalit and Castel, the first boutique wineries in Israel, just opened their wineries. At the same time, I studied industrial engineering and management at Shenkar, and as an extra income, I set up about 20 years ago a vintage eBay store with a specialty in pens, art, and watches."
Q: You must have an impressive wine collection.
"Actually, I've only been collecting wine for a few years. Most of my wine I like to keep in my belly. Since 2008 there's been a decrease in eBay activity, and in the last two years, I set up a wine trade for friends. I also set up an online auction house for wine and alcohol, [called] Bidspirit, where I sell aged wine worldwide, and most of my turnover [comes] from there, complemented by sales [I do] in Whatsapp. There's indeed been an increase [in demand] since the beginning of the coronavirus, but it's not really a bonanza."
Q: Where do you buy the wine?
"I buy wine from all over the world, wineries and wine stores, where you need to have personal connections to get reasonable prices if you also want to make money. On international websites, on eBay, and private sellers who wish to sell their collection for whatever reason, because they might be getting old, developed diabetes, or are closing their business, and so forth. I also work with a small group of winery owners who built their businesses with their bare hands, and their wine is no less incredible. We have become friends, and from time to time, we do events for our group."
Q: You said that most wines that are sold are kosher. Does it mean that most of your customers are religious?
"Not necessarily. Many of my clients are chefs, who because of the coronavirus, make a lot of private meals today and sell wines there. There are merchants, wine lovers, religious and secular [Israelis] who are knowledgeable in prices, trends, and styles.
"What's nice is that we see more and more people becoming interested in cooking and wine. High-tech has contributed to this a lot - people who have traveled around the world have been exposed to good food and good wine. I believe this field is just at its beginning. The young generation is exposed to quality wine when they eat out, chefs have become celebrities, MasterChef and all. We should remember - wine is not supposed to get you drunk. It is instead a cultural experience.
Yisrael Cohen is a lawyer from Jerusalem who has a WhatsApp group through which he trades wine.
"I grew up in Netivot," Cohen told Israel Hayom. "I studied at various yeshivas, and a friend suggested we enroll in an academic institution, and I got excited. I completed my matriculation exams and invested a lot of effort, and I finished my law exam and became an attorney."
Q: How did you come into the wine world?
"At first, I liked whiskey more, but then once I accompanied my brother-in-law to a wine tasting, and I discovered a wonderful world - each wine is unique, as it has qualities that no other wine has, and the taste changes with time.
"Whiskey has the same taste even years later. In 20 years, that bottle and a new bottle will have the same taste. Wine is unique - each harvest creates a different bottle in which you find something new, which changes over the years. Also, the situation in which you drink wine and the atmosphere around you changes the taste and the experience.
"When I taste wine, I decide whether I like it or not already by its smell, so much so that there are wines that I can smell for hours, almost without tasting. All this led me to understand that if I ever become a collector, then only of wine. Wine is for collectors."
Q: How did you come to set up a wine trading Whatsapp group?
"I participated in several wine tastings, and then I realized that there are hundreds of wineries in Israel, but consumers don't really know about them. Most consumers end up going back to the same 15-20 wineries. There's a gap between supply and demand.
"I started organizing events at luxury restaurants that incorporated blind wine tasting to neutralize the branding and increase exposure to boutique wineries. I posted these events on WhatsApp, and the registration filled up fast.
"What's nice is that the audience at these events is very diverse, Haredim with the secular, 25-year olds with pensioners. It was only natural that the group would turn into a platform for sharing knowledge, experiences, opinions, and later wine exchanges and even wine sales between friends.
"A friend of mine, from Rehovot, sells diamonds and his business, in fact the whole industry has suffered greatly due to the pandemic because no events are allowed, and diamonds can't be showcased. The desire to buy jewelry has decreased. Diamond importers are not allowed to travel the world due to the restrictions. So that friend reinvented himself as a wine seller and now sells premium wines."
Q: Do you enjoy working in the field?
"From the beginning of the coronavirus, I no longer travel abroad and have a lot of free time on my hands. I entered this field out of love for wine and the understanding that there's increased demand for quality wine.
"The wine market has transformed in Israel over the last few months, and one can find incredible deals as wine chains and internet stores compete against each other."
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