{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/62301a5c63c97500122f8a76/6801449738088415692c1468?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"The Deep Well of Kosher Wines w/ Gabe Geller, Royal Wine","description":"<p>With over 1,000 kosher wines from across all major winegrowing regions, <a href=\"https://royalwine.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Royal Wine</a> is the largest importer (and producer and distributor) of kosher wine in the world.&nbsp;Gabe Geller, Director of PR &amp; Wine Education, discusses the market for kosher wine, how and where it is made, and how Orthodox Jews hear about them.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Detailed Show Notes:&nbsp;</strong></p><p>Gabe’s background, at Royal Wine &gt;9 years, wine industry for 16 years (retail, consulting, marketing)</p><p>Royal Wine - world’s leading importer, producer, distributor of kosher wine</p><ul><li>In US, carries &gt;1,000 kosher wines from every major wine producing region</li><li>Owns Kedem, Herzog, and other brands</li></ul><p>Can’t taste kosher wine, similar to other wines</p><ul><li>Produced only by Sabbath observant Jews</li><li>No non-kosher ingredients or processing agents (e.g. - fining agents)</li><li>Has kosher certification on the bottle</li><li>Mevushal (“boiled”) - for some kosher wines, uses flash pasteurization which is also used by some non-kosher wineries; tend to taste more approachable initially, but ages longer</li></ul><p>Israel #1 producer of kosher wine (~5M cases), USA (~350k cases; mostly Herzog), France (~350k cases across many wineries)</p><p>Kosher wine market</p><ul><li>Observant Jews drink kosher wine year-round</li><li>Jews use wine in almost every religious ceremony, considered the “holy beverage”</li><li>Passover 1st night dinner (Seder), every adult is required to drink 4 cups of wine (can by any kosher wine or grape juice), each cup symbolizes 1 way God saved Jews from slavery</li><li>Jews who don’t do kosher normally will for Seder</li><li>40% of kosher wine in the US is purchased for Passover (used to be 60%, declining as more quality kosher wines available, so more is being bought year-round)</li><li>Top markets - Israel, US (NY/NJ #1, FL, CA - CA Jews drink less wine than East Coast Jews), France</li></ul><p>In top kosher markets, large retailers (e.g. - Total Wine) will have a kosher selection, some kosher wine stores, and online retailers (e.g. - Wine.com) also carry kosher</p><p>Of the 15.7M Jewish people (2023), only a small portion keep kosher</p><p>Some kosher wines sold to the general market (e.g. - Bartenura Moscato #1 imported Moscato the past 15 years, most don’t know it’s kosher; Jeunesse semi-dry wines have a distinct consumer appeal)</p><p>Israeli politics / Gaza war have lead to people buying more to support Israel</p><p>Marketing to the Orthodox community</p><ul><li>Identify sects with stricter mevushal rules (e.g. - 101F vs 105F) and promote specific brands that meet those</li><li>Print advertising big (English, Yiddish), many do not use as much internet, none on Sabbath, take in news via print</li><li>Whatsapp #1 social media for Orthodox Jews (or Telegram)</li></ul><p><br></p>","author_name":"Robert Vernick, Peter Yeung"}