#BDS_Fail: Winery tells Europe to stick it where the sun don't shine
Shavua tov, a good week to everyone.
The Tura winery, from the Samarian village of Rehelim, says that if Europe wants to boycott their award-winning wines, they will
do without Europe.
The winery has won many prestigious awards, including the “Oscar Award of Wine” in Israel's annual Golden Grapes competition in 2012, and gold medals in the Terravino
Mediterranean International Wine and Spirits Challenge in Jerusalem the
same year. It markets thousands of wines to America, Russia and China.
Next Sunday, Vered Ben-Saadon, who founded the winery in 2003 with
her husband Erez, will fly for another sales trip in the US. Speaking
to Arutz Sheva, Ben-Saadon noted that "for Purim and Passover our sales are at peak, 40% of our sales are in the United States and Canada.
"We go around the stores and restaurants and 'connect' them to our
product," remarked Ben-Saadon. "Our visitors' center in Rehelim is very
active, with people and tourists arriving all the time...over the years
I've kept addresses and made contact. We have many families that invited
us to meetings with communities and explanations on wine."
Ever since the "boycott trend" has started making waves, Ben-Saadon
notes her winery made a strategic decision. Their coping method: to
ignore Europe.
"I don't deal with it, I invest with those who want us. I produce
annually 26,000 bottles and I don't have enough for the whole world,"
Ben-Saadon noted. "If Europe isn't interested there are enough
Americans, Chinese and Russians crying out for good wines from Israel."
But according to another Samaria-based winery, there is one other place where Samarian wines are boycotted: Tel Aviv.
Yaakov Berg, CEO of Samaria-based Psagot Winery, revealed that the international boycott began in Tel Aviv.
"70% of our wines are sold in countries worldwide, and are in
prestigious restaurants in Manhattan, but not here in Tel Aviv," noted
Berg, warning the Tel Aviv boycotters that their discrimination against
their brothers will turn on them as the world increasingly follows the
trend against all of Israel.
We should just give the 'Palestinians'
Sheikh Munis if they leave us alone in Samaria.
Labels: BDS, Psagot winery, Samaria, wine
The best drinking party in Jerusalem
I know someone who went last year, and the
Jerusalem Wine Festival is definitely worth checking out. It costs NIS 80 to get in (so make sure you arrive early enough to enjoy it - that price is considered pretty steep in these parts) and you get a complimentary wine glass to take home.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: wine
Wine, women and song, Saudi style
With just 0.4% of the documents disclosed (about 1,000 out of 250,000), the revelations from Wikileaks just keep on coming. In one document released on Wednesday, it was disclosed that when it comes to wine, women and song, the Saudi Royal Family's attitude is that it's
for me and not for thee.
According to the leaked dispatches, officials from the Jeddah consulate detailed an underground Halloween party in which alcohol and prostitutes were readily available. The party, attended by over 150 Saudi men and women mostly in their twenties and thirties, was organized by a member of the Saudi royalty, a wealthy prince from the Al Thunayan family.
The party was held in a heavily secured villa and some of the funding was contributed by a US energy drink. The diplomat recommended the prince's identity remain secret.
The dispatch was signed off by Martin Quinn, the consul in Jeddah.
"Alcohol, though strictly prohibited by Saudi law and custom, was plentiful at the party's well-stocked bar," explained the cable. "The hired Filipino bartenders served a cocktail punch using sadiqi, a locally-made "moonshine". It was also learned through word-of-mouth that a number of the guests were in fact 'working girls', not uncommon for such parties."
American party attendees added that, "Though not witnessed directly at this event, cocaine and hashish use is common in these social circles."
Secret, underground parties protected by Saudi royalty and accessible only to the wealthy, were described as "thriving and throbbing" in the dispatch.
"The scene resembled a nightclub anywhere outside the Kingdom: plentiful alcohol, young couples dancing, a DJ at the turntables, and everyone in costume," the dispatch continued.
"Over the past few years, the increased conservatism of Saudi Arabia’s external society has pushed the nightlife and party scene in Jeddah even further underground," a prominent Saudi was quoted in the dispatch as saying.
Heh.
The cartoon at the top is a Saudi cartoon about the Wikileaks document dump.
Labels: for me and not for thee, Saudi Royal Family, Wikileaks, wine, women and song
