Hard to find wine here

KELLEY KORBIN

Wine importer Norman Gladstone has tasted some of the new wave of high-quality Israeli wines and commented that the Israeli industry "has come light years from where it was." However, he said that producing excellent wines is not in and of itself a reason wines are selected to be imported into a region.

Gladstone explained that there are two main hurdles the Israeli wine industry will have to overcome to succeed in the B.C. market. The first is marketing. Gladstone said the wine industry is so competitive that in order to entice someone to pick up a bottle of Israeli wine among the plethora of choices when they walk into a liquor store, it will be necessary for Israel to spend millions of dollars in advertising and promotion to create awareness about its products – much like the campaign Australia successfully launched to promote its wine industry. He added that, while Israel does have a ready-made population of support with the Diaspora, "there has to be more to it than just promoting Israel."

The second issue is transportation costs. It is currently prohibitively expensive to get wines from Israel to British Columbia. Gladstone said these costs make it very difficult for Israel to produce a good wine that would cost about $15 – a price point which, he said, it should meet to be successful in this market.

Gladstone added that Israel's best chance at an export market is probably in Europe or the eastern United States.

However, British Columbians who want to try Israel's wines do have a few options. Vancouver's Schara Tzedeck Synagogue imports kosher wines and sells them to the public for sacramental purposes. Many Israeli wines are kosher and some of them can be purchased through the synagogue. Alternatively, the British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch has a special order service and if you know what Israeli wine you would like imported, they may be able to special order a case for you. For details, visit www.bcliquorstores.com.

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