Not just doctors, lawyers and millionaires: Since the outbreak of the plague, the wine industry has grown significantly, attracting corona victims • Experts report rising sales, WhatsApp and Facebook groups eighty thousand participants, and wine meetings between ultra-Orthodox and secular • "We are partners in education"
"There are hundreds of wineries in the country, but there is not enough acquaintance between them and consumers."
A tourist at a winery in Moldova
Photography:
APP
The distance, morbidity, harm to business and general uncertainty caused by the corona plague have long since become unbearable.
According to many, in the more calculated conduct of decision makers, the third closure could have been avoided.
Many industries will find it difficult to recover from the blows that have befallen them, masses of employees have lost their headquarters to warm up, independent businesses have closed, not to mention those who have lost loved ones.
But there are those, it turns out, that the corona did them only good;
Not just the food chains that have benefited from jumps in the value of their shares, not just the courier companies that have expanded;
And not only remote viewing apps such as Zoom, Webinar and the like - but also the wine and alcohol industry, which has been experiencing high arousal since the outbreak of the epidemic in food chains, chains and liquor stores and websites that deliver home deliveries.
The Bana Beverages chain, for example, has grown since the outbreak of the epidemic and now has 28 stores nationwide, with ten more planned to open in 2021.
"We are seeing a tens of percent increase in sales," says Fanny Bachar, the chain's marketing director, "not only in wine, vodka and whiskey, but also and especially in pre-epidemic products sold relatively slowly - for example liqueurs and tequila. We also saw an impressive increase in women customers coming today We have a lot more network than before. "
Other chains such as Derech Hayin, Wine in the City, Turkish, Hinawi, Hermitage, which has opened a representative office in the center, and even marketing chains such as Shufersal report an increase in demand and sales of wine and alcohol in stores and deliveries.
But it does not end there.
At the same time, a vibrant secondary wine selling scene has also developed, in which collectors and wine lovers buy and sell aged wines that have already run out of market and are only available in private collections.
If until a few months ago the phenomenon was quite limited and took place between wine geeks only, then since the outbreak of the corona it has expanded greatly, WhatsApp and Facebook groups have been established eight hundred and thousands of participants, and the sale method has been improved: not always the bottle gets an exact price tag, but offered for sale Publicly, which provides participants with action, interest and even excitement similar to winning a casino or gambling.
This is also a world of brands, where the coveted prices can rise to hundreds and even thousands of shekels per bottle, but sometimes, when there is not enough response, you can also find great bargains at ridiculous prices.
Not yet Bonanza
This hobby is not just the domain of doctors, lawyers and millionaires.
Among the participants we found employees and the self-employed, ultra-Orthodox alongside secularists, right-wingers and leftists and young people alongside seniors, and even Corona victims who found in the wine trade also a source of livelihood in times of distress.
Once again it turns out that the passion for wine manages to connect people and serve as a bridge over ideological abysses in other areas.
Ofer Hershkovitz (51) is a veteran wine lover, who works as an engineer in a large high-tech company and lives in Rishon Lezion.
"I think I started drinking wine more or less when I started dating girls. The truth is that like in the legend of Baron Rothschild, my best wine I drank in my life was at age 16. My friend and I made pasta, and drank it with a bottle of Carmel Emerald Riesling. I specialized as a bartender, waiter and Somali in a variety of restaurants, including Yakimono and the mythical Rothschild, where I was exposed to the whole world of wine, later taking wine courses, working at Sorek Winery, and even taking part in the vintage, along with Barry Saslov.
Nati Faust // Photo: Yossi Zeliger
"In 1992, I met the late Carmi Levenstein, who was then the marketing director of Carmel Mizrahi, and we founded the 'Wine Parliament' in Rothschild, which was visited by a lot of celebs - Israel Flem (then the main winemaker at Carmel Winery Famous painters such as Agam and Kadishman, mayors and ministers. This was the time when Margalit and Castel, the first boutique wineries in Israel, just opened the wineries. At the same time I studied industrial engineering and management at Shenkar, and as a kind of income supplement I established about 20 years ago A vintage ebay store specializing in pens, art and watches. "
According to this record you should have an impressive wine collection.
"The truth is that I have been collecting wine for a few years. I have preferred to keep most of my wine in my stomach. Since 2008 there has been a dramatic decrease in activity on eBay, and in the last two years I have set up a wine group for trading between friends, called 'Mycodine Trading and Wine Bidding'. "Of wine and alcohol on the net, BidSpirit, where I sell aged wine to the whole world and where most of my cycle, when WhatsApp sales complete it. It's true that there has been an increase since the beginning of the corona, but it's not really a bonanza."
Where do you buy your inventory?
"I buy wine all over the world - in wineries and wine shops, where you owe personal connections to get good prices if you also want to earn. On international sites, on eBay and also from private individuals who for all sorts of reasons want to get rid of their wine - adults, diabetics, elimination Business, etc. I have groups of small winery owners who have built their business with ten fingers and produce no less amazing wine. We have become friends and we also do events from time to time for group members.
"I try to buy good things and hold on for at least five years.
Examples are not lacking - Castel's 'Grand Win' 2016, Golan Heights singles or Flem's Noble.
Most of the traffic in the country is in kosher and famous wines.
I also give a warranty on the wine - if a customer claims and proves that the wine he bought from me was defective, he will get his money back.
Because the wine is kept excellent in my refrigeration, I am not afraid.
To this day, I have had a total of two people to whom I returned the money, when one of them was borderline. "
When you say that kosher wines" star, "does that mean that your customers come mainly from the ultra-Orthodox sector?
" Not necessarily.
I have a lot of chef clients, who today, because of the corona, make a lot of private meals and sell wines there.
There are traders, heavy wine lovers, religious and also secular who are familiar with prices, trends and styles.
These are guys who understand interest and can not be worked on.
"What's beautiful is that you're seeing more and more people interested in culinary and wine. High-tech has contributed a lot to that - people around the world have been exposed to good food and good wine. I believe this field is just beginning. The younger generation is exposed to quality wine when it comes to outdoor food. "Master Chef" etc. should be remembered - wine is not to get drunk and grab a head. It is a cultural experience. "
"Bottle - a one-time experience"
Israel Cohen, a young Jerusalem lawyer (31), runs one of the popular WhatsApp groups in Yin. "I grew up in Netivot and studied at various yeshivas, but a friend's offer - to enroll together in academic studies - turned me on, and after "After completing my matriculation and putting in a lot of effort, I finished the bureau's exams and became an ordinary lawyer."
Israel Cohen // Photo: Daniel Gavrielov
How did you come to the world of wine?
"At first I actually liked whiskey more, but at some point I accompanied my brother-in-law to a wine tasting evening and was exposed to a wonderful world - each wine has unique properties that no one else has and will never return. Understand, whiskey remains with the same taste after years. In 20 years the bottle From time to time, a new bottle will have exactly the same taste.
"On the other hand, wine is unique - in each vintage you encounter something new in the bottle that also develops and changes over the years, the situation in which you drink wine and the surrounding atmosphere changes taste and experience.
When I taste a wine I decide if I like it or not already by the smell, so much so that there are wines that I can smell for hours, almost without tasting.
All this has led me to the insight that if already to be a collector then only of wine.
Wine is for collectors. "
There are days when it's really hard to keep track of all the messages in the group, and almost every moment there is a sale. How did it develop?
" I attended several tasting evenings, and then I realized that there are hundreds of wineries in the country.
Most consumers eventually drain into those 20-15 wineries.
There is a mismatch between supply and demand.
I organize events at fine restaurants combined wine tasting blind (where the same wine hidden participants until after the tasting; RP) to neutralize the brand and expand the exposure of boutique wineries. I published these events groups Whatsup and registration was closing fast.
"What's nice is that the audience In these events it is very heterogeneous - ultra-Orthodox alongside secular, 25-year-olds alongside retirees.
It was only natural that the group would become a platform for sharing knowledge, experiences and exchanging impressions, and later also began to develop exchanges and sales of wine between the members.
We have members in the group who own wine collections for hundreds of thousands of shekels, and it is open so that anyone can advertise wine for sale according to the defined rules. "Some
people made complaints about price biases in auctions and combinations in some groups. Did you hear about it?
" Wine and it is not possible to trace the character and credibility of each joiner, and as in all spheres of life, in this sphere too there are unfortunately people who exploit the innocence of the whole.
Indeed, even our group had managed to infiltrate and attempted to coordinate prices or do not keep their promise of sale, and when I recognized it, I decided that each member will present itself in a transparent manner and control, to prevent people hiding behind the keyboard and disappear after promises. "
Shyness? Earned
one of the industries hit hard During the Corona period, it was the diamond industry. The absence of events did not allow "jewelry" to be "displayed", and the desire to purchase it also decreased. Due to restrictions, the travel of importers around the world was almost completely stopped. Nati Faust (48), a resident of Rehovot, is a wine lover. Re-established himself and started selling premium and aging wines through groups on social media ("Nati's Boutique"), sales groups and personal sales.
So what, the profit in wine is similar to that in the diamond industry?
"Since the beginning of the corona I have not flown abroad for a long time. I entered this field out of love for wine and from the identification of a growing audience looking for quality and aging wines, and that's how I met a lot of good people. I set up a Facebook page that is mainly used for networking and advertising, less for sale. I hardly sell new bottles, just age, because I have none Relative advantage in the new market in recent months
The wine in the country has gone insane and today you can find promotions, literally a war, between the alcohol chains and the websites until sometimes it is hard for me to understand how they sell.
These are really loss-making prices.
Ofer Hershkovitz // Photo: Yossi Zeliger
"What sets me apart is that I share my knowledge and experience online, including topics that I think are not addressed elsewhere. For example, how long should a bottle be opened before drinking - some wines are ready to drink immediately, compared to others that need to be infused ( To breathe; RP) a few hours.
And about profit, there is a kind of rule of thumb that every year aging adds online about 10 percent of the price but there are wines that can over time achieve a higher yield, while on the other hand should also take into account depreciation of the wines that have failed the test of time. "
And how is preparing logistically massive purchases of Wine? It needs to be aged under very specific conditions.
"At the beginning of Corona the wineries and wholesalers got stuck with stocks and looked for who could sell, so I managed to get a nice quantity at an attractive price, and to keep them I set up a wine room at home, and my offices have five more refrigerators.
But that means you have to put a lot of money in advance until the sale, and there is also a lot of fuss around because the sale is usually individual.
The truth is that there is not much money in it but more interest.
Lots of people also call and ask for advice and recommendations and in the end do not buy from me, which is also fine.
"Although it's no small brain confusion, I have fun and enjoyment in it, I feel I am a partner in education for wine culture, and maybe in the future it will also pay off."
