AmericanWinery.com Delivers Community-Generated Content For Wine Enthusiasts in Appreciation of American Winemakers.

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- AmericanWinery.com is helping online wine consumers easily reach American wineries with a premier website designed to streamline the browsing and purchasing experience, all in appreciation and for the benefit of American winemakers and wineries.

The newly launched web site AmericanWinery.com is an interactive network that enables American wineries and wine consumers to connect, free of charge, and takes the idea of 'buying local' to new extremes by giving any American winery the opportunity to market and deliver wine to U.S. consumers. The site is a community-driven web site where information is generated by wineries and consumers alike. Wineries may, for the first time ever, post their entire wine library for free, including current and past releases, and consumers provide direct feedback by posting reviews, recommending favorite wines, and using the AmericanWinery.com guided rating system.

By registering at AmericanWinery.com, wineries can market wines in their own Virtual Tasting Room and wine shoppers can benefit directly from consumer-generated content that helps narrow choices and promotes greater support for American wine producers.

Lloyd Benedict, 23, founder and CEO, began working on the concept in late 2005 while studying anthropology at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, one of the country's most renowned wine growing regions. Benedict's goal is to reach out to a generation of drinking-age consumers who are Internet savvy, interested in wine and in favor of supporting domestic wine producers through consumer-direct distribution. By creating a destination that will connect more wine enthusiasts with wineries through viral content generation, Benedict hopes to help wineries sell more wine online for higher profits.

Benedict believes this is the first large-scale attempt for the local winemaker and winery to be heard. He's as passionate about supporting American wine producers as they are about making their products. "There's a reason why we go to tasting rooms. We want to experience wine first-hand with the creators," Benedict states. "If we can replicate even a tiny bit of that experience at AmericanWinery.com then everyone benefits. The wineries will sell more wine at greater profit and consumers will gain a great deal of satisfaction knowing that the wine they are buying is coming directly from the winery they choose to support and not through a warehouse retailer or distributed by a third party. That's a kind of efficiency that has a lot of soul to it."

AmericanWinery.com offers the potential for any wine consumer to learn about, search for or shop at any of the 5,900 wineries in the United States. The site is currently expanding as new wineries sign on everyday. Consumers may log on at anytime to browse the growing assortment of Virtual Tasting Rooms, read reviews or research listings posted in wine libraries.

The appeal of browsing AmericanWinery.com is in the community-generated content such as reviews and commentary, in-depth food and wine resources, industry news and easy-to-use research tools. Consumers can use AmericanWinery.com to search for particular varietals based on the AVA (American Viticulture Area), vintage, food pairing recommendations, peer referrals, or by price.

In the coming months, wine consumers will be able to buy direct through a winery's Virtual Tasting Room and benefit from special price reductions on featured wines and shipping offers while providing wineries a higher profit margin than if the wine was sold through the traditional distribution model. The service is free to consumers and wineries alike. Consumers who purchase wine through AmericanWinery.com's secure website will be matched with a 'broker' who will manage step-by-step order tracking and guarantee arrival, providing unparalleled customer service. Ultimately consumers gain the satisfaction of knowing that they are buying direct and supporting the American wine producer.

Likewise, American winery owners can utilize the service to supplement their marketing efforts, all free of charge. Each winery is offered a Virtual Tasting Room where winery information, complete wine libraries and tasting notes may be posted along with event information, special release offers, photos and contact information. Wineries control their own message and content, ultimately bypassing other costly marketing arrangements.

With an increasing number of consumers buying wine online and using search engines to help make purchasing decisions, the benefits offered to both wineries and consumers at AmericanWinery.com places the website squarely at the center of a vital and rapidly expanding online wine community.

Electronic copy of this release available at AmericanWinery.com/press

The American Winery LLC (Walla Walla, Washington) is a group of dedicated individuals who are connecting American wineries with wine enthusiasts though the power of the Internet and enhanced search engine capabilities. The website and service they have built, www.AmericanWinery.com, provides the most direct way for American wineries to market themselves online and the simplest and most enjoyable experience wine enthusiasts can have when browsing or searching for American wines to purchase, learn more about, or simply explore the vast wine-related knowledge base AmercianWinery.com hosts.

Any American winery is welcome to register with AmercianWinery.com free of charge. Anyone who has an interest in American wines can log on and be a part of this community. Hey, it's America after all.