A wine desert, bar and wine shop in Mitzpe Ramon, which sells only wines from the Israeli desert, recently appealed to the general public for assistance through a crowdfunding project on the Headstart website to ensure its continued operation.
"We opened in January of this year and just before Chol Hamoed a fire broke out there," says one of the owners, Gabriel Tene. He said that during the fire, the entire outside area of the place caught fire, an area with a pergola where guests sit. The warehouse of the business was also completely burned down. "For a whole month since the war broke out, we didn't open the place. Recently we've been opening on weekends, which is nice, but not effective," Tene says.
The exterior of the place burned down, photo: Yael Shechter
Founded by Gabriel Tene (28) and Shahar Saban (24), the business offers only local wines. All of them are produced in more than twenty wineries located in the southern region - from the Gaza envelope to Eilat. In addition to wines, cheeses from Kibbutz Be'eri, local art items and more are also offered. "Before the fire, we used to do concerts every Friday, wine tastings for groups to expose wineries we don't usually know in the center. High-tech companies would also come to us and we would be on the wave," Tene says. "Just before Chol Hamoed, there was supposed to be the first wedding there. I made all kinds of improvements to the yard. We brought a welder to strengthen the pergola and then the fire broke out. Of course, the guys found another place for the wedding and we closed the yard on Chol Hamoed."
How do you manage to survive since the seventh of October?
"The bar and shop were based mainly on tourists who came from the hotels in the area, now the hotels are used for evacuees or closed. A bar is also less suitable now, so there is less demand. We operate all kinds of stalls in Tel Aviv and participate in many markets. That's what helped us and kept us going until now. It helped us at least pay the wineries. But we want to know for sure that we can survive the next few months."
Shahar Sadan and Gabriel Tene,
Tene, who immigrated to Israel from Costa Rica to enlist in the IDF, stayed to study at Ben-Gurion University and moved to Mitzpe Ramon. Saban arrived in Mitzpe Ramon three years ago from Acre. Both, they say, dream of developing wine in the Negev. "The love for wine came to me relatively late, around the age of 24. Shahar and I met at the hotel where we worked and decided that we wanted to create an attraction in Mitzpe Ramon, because in the evening there is nothing to do here," he says, adding excited: "It's such a special field. A tourist who comes to us sees it as a miracle - that grapes can be grown here and wine made. On the way, we discovered that there are many more wineries in this area than we thought, and we entered through an open door."
Why is it a dream?
"My dream has always been to live in the desert. We both came to the observatory, like many people, to seek quiet and a relaxed lifestyle. I see here a lot of potential for development that is a little different, for a different lifestyle. The wineries and agricultural tourism combine with all this. They are part of the tourism that the region offers, they provide jobs and connect to the territory, to the land. So I think it's a direction the Negev can take for the sake of development, which is unique and crazy."
Cheeses from Kibbutz Be'eri,
What are your goals in the crowdfunding project?
"We're afraid to order more merchandise because we don't know what will happen. We're pretty much stuck right now trying to recalculate a route. Understand what to do from here."
"The survival of the bar is important to each of the Negev wineries that see the bar as an important focal point that tells their story and promotes them," the two wrote on the Headstart page. They added: "We are turning to you so that we can get through the crisis, continue to support the wineries in the south and on the way to host and make you happy. For each support, a gift will be given that you can redeem at any time."
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