Month: July 2024

Many people have dreams and ambitions, but few articulate their plans so clearly from the very beginning. The first steps are normally taken gingerly and quietly, so mistakes can be learnt from without being under the microscope. A brand is built slowly layer upon layer over years. There is no rush. From the time you plant a vineyard, you can’t use the grapes until the 4th year. Then you may put your precious red wine into barrel to mature for 18 months, and then leave it another six months’ bottle age before release. As a marketer and the builder of a wine brand that gives you time. As a businessman it is nightmare. There is no cash flow, just outgoings and expenditure. The accountant will not be pleased.  It may be 6-7 years before you can sell your precious wine, and who knows when you will be paid.  Building a winery is long term, everything is in slow motion. Patience is not a virtue, it is a necessity. There is no alternative.

Let me tell you about a wine of defiance, hope and resilience. It will not win gold medals or high scores. The international wine critics will not have heard of it. It was only produced in miniscule quantities. But no doubt in my mind, this is one of the ‘Israeli Wines of the Year.’ This is a story of unspeakable horror, unbearable tragedy, but also of redemption, rejuvenation and an underlying optimism. It spreads a feeling of strength in adversity and hope. It tells the story of the biggest tragedy to befall the Jewish people since the Holocaust, in a bottle of wine. A message in a bottle.