Appellation America and Inertia Beverage Group Partner To Define Next Step in Direct-To-Consumer Wine Sales

Business Wire, March 29, 2007

Leading Direct-To-Consumer Services Create Strategic Partnership

SAN FRANCISCO -- Appellation America and Inertia Beverage Group, two leading service providers in the direct-to-consumer wine sales category, redefined the nature of this exploding sector when they announced today a strategic partnership that will create the largest platform for direct-to-consumer wines sales on the Internet. The new partnership will combine Appellation America's customer-facing wine store and benchmark editorial content with IBG's leading direct sales engine and 300 brands to create the potential for an Amazon-like wine sales portal with huge benefits for both the customer and winery.

On the technological side, Inertia Beverage group will integrate its REthink Engine direct sales platform used by more than 300 brands with Appellation America's online wine shop that currently facilitates sales for over 125 wineries. By integrating the order processing and information management power of IBG's REthink Engine platform with the popular wine portal and store, wineries utilizing the two services together will have access to a comprehensive one-stop shop to buy wine: (http://wine.appellationamerica.com/wine-store/buy-wine-online.aspx)

Defining the Next Level in Direct-to-Consumer Wine Sales

Critical to the partnership is Appellation America's status as the Internet's most extensive information source for North American wines. Attracting 100,000 unique visitors a month and growing 15% monthly, AppellationAmerica.com publishes wine recommendations and original editorial coverage of wine on a daily basis as well as offers encyclopedic information on all facets of the wine industry in North America. This reach helps drive thousands of information hungry wine buyers into their online wine shop. Wineries using the IBG REthink Engine who choose to work with Appellation America will immediately gain access to this coveted group of wine lovers.

"Appellation America has always aspired to be the Amazon.com of wine by providing the best and most cutting edge wine information anywhere and concurrent access to the largest collection of North American wineries," explains Appellation America President Roger Dial. "This partnership with the leading provider of winery direct sales systems marks a turning point in our ambitions and puts us well down the road to defining the formula for success for all American wineries in the direct-to-consumer sales sector."

"When two leaders representing the two sides of a new channel partner as we are with Appellation America you are witnessing the maturation of this new sales channel," said Inertia Beverage Group's CEO Paul Mabray. "Wineries have decided to sell direct and consumers have now decided to buy direct. What's next is this kind of partnership between two services that can deliver the efficiencies, technology and selection what everyone wants and needs."

About Appellation America

Founded in 2003, Appellation America redefined online wine journalism with its constantly updated, content deep on-line portal that now delivers over 15,000 pages of information on the North American wine culture. In summer 2006, Appellation America introduced its Online Wine Store offering access to 20 wineries. Today more than 125 wineries across the country have signed on to the Appellation America wine store, presenting wines to 100,000 monthly visitors at the AppellationAmerica.com site. http://www.appellationamerica.com

About Inertia Beverage Group

Inertia Beverage Group, based in Napa, California, is the premier provider of web-based technology used by wineries to manage direct sales and marketing. Inertia's REthink Engine technology is at the heart of the direct sales and marketing efforts of more than 300 wine brands. Inertia's technology and services affords wineries an integrated platform from which they can manage customer data, online sales to consumers and the trade, on-line content, product fulfillment, wine clubs and e-mail based sales campaigns. http://www.inertiabev.com