Wine.com Launches Wine Industry Advisory Board; Zelma Long Appointed Director

Business Wire, Feb 10, 2000

     Business Editors and Food Writers

     NAPA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 2000--Wine.com, the
leading global wine portal, has created a Wine Industry Advisory Board
to help guide the industry into the future of e-commerce. The board
also will advise on a broad range of wine related matters to continue
wine.com's lead in the online arena. Led by Zelma Long, owner of Long
Vineyards, and ZL Wines, and long time wine industry veteran, the
advisory board is comprised of wine industry leaders, including:

     --   Patrick Campbell, owner, Laurel Glen Winery

     --   Paul Ginsburg, Executive Vice President, Kendall-Jackson
          Winery

     --   Judy Jordan, CEO, J Wine Company

     --   Allen Shoup, CEO, Stimson Lane (Chateau Ste. Michelle)

     --   Tom Selfridge, CEO, Chalone Wine Group

     The purpose of the advisory board is to exchange information and
experience from the wine industry regarding e-commerce, issues facing
wineries and wine growers, and the future direction of online wine
retailing.
     &uot;Our advisory board will create an ongoing dialogue between
online retailing and the wine industry,&uot; said Bill Newlands, president
and CEO, wine.com. &uot;Zelma's history of leadership in the wine
industry, including her management at Chandon Estates, Long Vineyards
and Simi Winery, and her participation in many industry organizations,
assures a board that keeps us on the cutting-edge.&uot;
     Long, the first president of the American Vineyard Association
and the 1997 Wine &Spirits Professional of the Year, was inducted
into the James Beard Foundation Hall of Fame in 1996.
     &uot;The wine industry wants to introduce new consumers to the wine
experience,&uot; said Long. &uot;Wine.com is the perfect means to give
newcomers a non intimidating method to learn about and buy wine. It
also gives seasoned wine lovers access to wines not readily available
to them.&uot;
     Long is joined by Selfridge who comments, &uot;The internet is making
sweeping changes in the way we all conduct business. I look forward to
exploring with other advisory board members the new opportunities it
presents us.&uot; Selfridge is a 28-year veteran of the wine industry who
began his career as a Napa Valley winemaker.
     The advisory board will meet four times a year. Each meeting will
have both an educational and a brainstorming component with the
educational session featuring an e-commerce speaker.

     About wine.com (www.wine.com)

     Founded in 1994, wine.com was the first wine merchant on the Web
and a pioneer in electronic commerce. The company's new portal site,
www.wine.com, offers an ever-growing selection of domestic and
international wines and wine-related gifts and accessories to
customers worldwide. The company makes wine buying easy and fun with
detailed wine information, its proprietary wine tasting chart and
expert advice from its professional wine team led by two Master
Sommeliers. Each wine offered on the site is tasted and selected by
wine.com's team of wine experts and is 100 percent guaranteed. The
Winery Shops@wine.com features exclusive wines from such leading wine
brands as Niebaum-Coppola, Kendall-Jackson, Sterling Vineyards, and
Domaine Chandon. Wine.com is able to ship wine through a legally
compliant network of wholesalers and retailers to over 90 percent of
the United States, as well as Asia and Europe.
     Wine.com is privately held and headquartered in Napa with an
office in Palo Alto, Calif.

SOURCE: Wine.com

     --30--DH/na*

     CONTACT:  Wine.com
               Laura Grams, 650/919-1975 ext. 315
               grams@wine.com
               or
               Fleishman-Hillard for Wine.com
               Stephanie Kaufman, 314/982-9198
               kaufmans@fleishman.com

     KEYWORD:  CALIFORNIA
     INDUSTRY KEYWORD:  FOODS/BEVERAGES MANAGEMENT CHANGES