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STATUS QUO

The on / off nature of closure and semi clo- more professionally. It is not enough to be an
sure has been disastrous to the on premise expert any more. The interested wine lover is
market. The restaurant industry has been de- spoilt for choice. They are being swamped by
cimated and those professionals employed options, so only those offering something ex-
have been left hanging, forgotten by the go- tra will stand out in the crowd. The wine indu-
vernment. I imagine the long term results will stry has always been very conservative, slow
be lots of closures and unemployment, but as to adopt and adapt to communication tech-
is always the case, new initiatives will rise to nology. This will have to change.
take their place. As far as wineries are concerned, the larger
The result of this on the wine industry has wineries are making hay and the well-known
been surprising. One would think that tho- brands seem to be benefiting. With regard to
se stuck at home without a regular income the finest small wineries, they tend to have the
would consider wine a costly luxury. What image and customer base to withstand the
has happened is that more people are drin- loss of sales in hotels and restaurants. For all
king wine at home and wine has become the wineries caught in the middle, and this is
more integrated in the domestic routine. This by far the majority, Corona has been catastro-
is a benefit of Corona. People are buying in phic. They have reacted by introducing online
supermarkets, maybe lesser expensive wines wine shops, heavily discounting, but everyone
and maybe looking for known brands, but the is doing it and it is not enough. Obviously the
upward trend has continued throughout the tourism market has been hit greater than any.
Corona months. Israel, particularly Tel Aviv, has become a culi-
Furthermore, there is a greater culture for nary venue of interest, and wineries have been
buying online. Wine has always lagged behind becoming more geared to tourism in recent
food in this area. As more consumers are ma- years. All this has stopped. Wineries that de-
king their supermarket purchases online and pend on cellar door sales have had this source
it includes a new realization, that wine purcha- of revenue cut off since the beginning of Co-
ses may be made online too. There have been rona.
a number of new start-ups offering wines In export markets Israel has made some
online, and the customer buying on line has progress in marketing itself as an Eastern Me-
plenty of new options to consider. diterranean wine. I fear that with a consolida-
In terms of education, wine professionals tion of those wine regions considered exotic
have had to become used to communication and not essential, Israel will retrogress again to
via zoom. More podcasts, virtual tastings or be considered part of Kosher in those count-
wine webinars have taken place than ever be- ries where this market is the dominant vehicle
fore. The wine trade has to gear up to do this for wine sales. Again the larger brands and the

Wine shop at Jerusalem´s Mahane Yehuda Market was shot by Luboš Bárta
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