VANCOUVER — If you’re in Vancouver and in the mood for a glass of good kosher vino, you won’t have to look too hard to find it.
Thanks to the hard work of International Cellars Inc., which represents Galil Mountain, Dalton Wines and Golan Heights Winery (the latter better known under their Yarden label), Israeli wines are now available in local liquor stores and in a handful of restaurants including Cactus Club, Gastown’s PourHouse and Kerrisdale’s Senova.
“We’ve been working with Israeli wine for the past two years, and we’ve been very persistent,” says Norman Gladstone, co-director of International Cellars Inc. “Having these wines listed in restaurants doesn’t happen overnight – you have to keep at it until you finally make some progress. It takes time and exposure.”
The restaurant listings came simply because Israeli wine is very good, Gladstone says. “The Galil Mountain pinot noir is very good, and when we presented it to Cactus Club, they accepted it on its own merits.”
Based in Vancouver, International Cellars imports and markets wines from 12 countries. Israeli wines represent less than 1 per cent of the company’s volume, and Gladstone only began marketing Israeli wines after being approached by the British Columbia liquor distribution branch.
“They said they had a need and some interest in listing Israeli wines for a special Israel section in their liquor stores,” he recalls. “It was exciting and interesting to us that they were willing to create an Israel section, as opposed to a kosher section.”
The challenge when it comes to Israeli wines is not just exposure but also price. “It would be nice to find Israeli wines with lower prices than what we have now,” Gladstone reflects.
The cost per bottle ranges between $18 and $40 today, mainly because Israel is a high-cost producer and doesn’t have large tracts of vineyards. That, coupled with the dollar-to-shekel exchange rate and the expensive cost of importing the wine across the ocean accounts for the relatively high price tag, Gladstone says.
He’s hopeful for the future of Israeli wine in Canada, though he says there’s much work to be done.
“Israel has a seat at the international wine table, but it’s at the end of the table,” he says. “It’s going to take a huge effort on our part as importers, and on the part of the Israeli trade commission, to establish Israel as a wine entity. For now, the country is fighting for market share against well-established countries like Italy, France and Spain – tough competitors.”
