Wine for Christmas? From the Jews, Natch
Posted Nov. 9, 2007 at 2:07 pm by Mark Fefer
Oh, those Jews! First they give you your Christmas songs and your Christmas movies. Now they want to sell you your Christmas wine. The father and son team of Pini and Adam Haroz, based In Georgia, have recently started marketing what they call "Grapes of Galilee," three wines imported from Israel. The grapes are "grown beside the Sea of Galilee" (the body of water Jesus walked on) and "watered by the Jordan River" (where he was baptized).
The bottles come adorned with paintings of the man from Galilee and the company is placing ads in next month's issues of Catholic Digest, God's Word Today, Today's Parish Minister, and the Beacon.
The marketing is focused on Catholics, says David Stein, the company's sales director, because "Catholics are the ones who drink wine for their festive occasions."
The vineyards are "right outside of Nazareth," he points out, "the same land where Jesus was probably getting grapes." He says this land went uncultivated for centuries when it was under Muslim rule, since they're not into wine.
It's not available at Northwest retailers yet, says Stein, but you can order online.
The irony is that most wine imported from Israel is kosher---meaning, among other things, that it has to be handled only by observant Jews. But hey, the customer is king---no such restrictions on them!
Comments
My favorite Christmas cookie book is "Visions of Sugarplums" by former NY Times critic Mimi Sheraton, raised Orthodox. It's the food world's equivalent of the Barbra Streisand's "Christmas Memories."
Posted Nov. 9, 2007 at 3:21 pm by Jonathan K