ADVISORY/Gloria Ferrer Champagne Caves Harvests First Sparkling Wine Grapes This Week.

News/Assignment Editors and Wine Writers

ADVISORY...for Thursday (Aug. 17)

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

What:         The harvest at Gloria Ferrer Champagne Caves will begin
              tomorrow.

Where:        Gloria Ferrer Champagne Caves is located at
              23555 Carneros Hwy. (121), Sonoma, California.
              In the famous Carneros region of Sonoma County, the
              winery is 45 minutes north of San Francisco.

When:         Thursday, August 17 (5:30 am to noon)

Who:          Vineyard Manager Mike Crumly, with Gloria Ferrer since
              1986. Winemaker Bob Iantosca, with Gloria Ferrer since
              1984.

Highlights:   All of Gloria Ferrer's grapes are hand-harvested and
              delivered to the winery in small boxes (not the huge
              gondolas common throughout the wine country). The first
              varietal to be picked will be the Pinot Noir grapes used
              in sparkling wines. In early September the Chardonnay
              for bubbly will be harvested, followed by the
              mid-September to late-October crush of grapes used in
              the winery's still wines -- Pinot Noir, Chardonnay,
              Merlot and Syrah. This will be Gloria Ferrer's first
              Syrah harvest.
                  With the winery's new 10,000-square-foot cave
              expansion, this is the first year all of the barrel
              fermentation will be done in-house.

Vintage 2000: The 2000 harvest will benefit from a growing season of
              practically perfect weather. Spring was a little cool,
              with some light rains in April and May. The heat wave in
              the first week of June didn't have a major effect on
              Gloria Ferrer grapes because of the cooling effect from
              the nearby San Francisco Bay. Summer weather has been
              moderate, with an ideal temperature pattern in the low
              to mid-80s over the last few weeks. The 2000 crop
              promises to be of very good quality and slightly larger
              than average. The total crush will be 2,000 tons, the
              largest harvest ever for Gloria Ferrer.