California 1999 Wine Grape Harvest Report from Seagram Chateau & Estate Wines Company.

CALISTOGA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 27, 1999--

The wine grape harvest is finally underway in California. Greg Fowler, who has over 20 years experience in the California wine industry and has worked in every major wine region in the state, offers the following harvest report. Greg is Senior Vice-President, Winemaking, for Seagram Chateau & Estate Wines Company's California properties which include Sterling Vineyards, Mumm Napa Valley, Tessera, and The Monterey Vineyard.

"We started harvest Tuesday the 24th of August here at Mum Napa Valley. I think the watchwords are going to be "very cool," "long hangtime" and "long summer" for us here in the Napa Valley and, in fact, a very cool spring. While the rest of the country is burning up, we, until this last week, haven't had any real heat to speak of. Hangtime will be even longer than last year.

"The crop looks to be medium to modest, especially in the North Coast--Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino. Tonnage is going to be up versus 1998, specifically in terms of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, however, we will be more along the lines of what I call moderate crop loads, particularly in terms of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, etc.

"Down in the Central Coast, to give a quick overview, we're running even further behind than last year, and that was a late harvest. I'd estimate 10 days behind because of a very cool spring and a very wet period during bloom and set. Crop is down significantly, as much as 15-20% for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The Merlot came through a little better than that, but I still expect it will be down about 10%. Cabernet Sauvignon looks to be near normal but weights will be slightly below normal because of the size of the berries.

"This is in contrast to what the Central Valley has come up with. Reports from the San Joaquin Valley are that they've really not gotten going much sooner than we have; they're running 10-15 days later than normal, partly due to the crop loads themselves. In early reports the Chardonnay is looking to be especially good in that neck of the woods in terms of weight and in terms of cluster count. Also in the reds as well--we're looking at good numbers, especially in the new plantings.

"On the coast and in the Central Coast especially, those tonnages will be down.

"While the year has been cool, there has been tremendous mildew pressure. However, I think we learned a lot from the difficult 1998 growing season and everything looks to be very clean with low instances of mildew and botrytis.

"For Mumm Napa Valley, the clusters are very small, but flavors are extremely intense and color looks to be very good. For example, we harvested Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier on Tuesday. The first numbers came in at 20 degrees Brix, the TA was at 1.01 and pH at 3.02--pretty darn good numbers. Malic acids are going to be up; all this means good, crisp flavors. Both Rob McNeill and I are excited in terms of the way the fruit is coming in.

"At Sterling Vineyards, right now we are out sampling Sauvignon Blanc. It looks like we will be starting at the end of next week, but again, sugars are starting to come up mainly due to the warm weather we received here last week. We're getting sugars for Sauvignon Blanc at about 22 degrees Brix. PH is 3.04 and TA is at 10 grams; I'd like to see the acid get down a little bit lower--at 10 grams that's a little like a sparkling wine grape!

"This reminds me a lot of 1998, but we didn't have the hot weather in July, so it is more reminiscent to me of 1985 or 1980--long hangtime, cool growing season, and very good years.

"The forecast in the Napa Valley is to stay warm for the next couple of weeks. We're getting some moisture from the south that is causing overcast skies and some high humidity.

"We're very excited and looking forward to a good harvest!"

The Seagram Chateau & Estate Wines Company, a division of Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., with principal offices in San Mateo and Napa Valley, California and New York City, produces and markets the wines of Sterling Vineyards, Tessera, The Monterey Vineyard and the sparkling wines of Mumm Cuvee Napa. The company is the exclusive U.S. importer of G.H. Mumm and Perrier-Jouet Champagnes, Barton & Guestier wines, Brancott Vineyards from New Zealand and Sandeman Ports and Sherries; and is the largest importer of classified Bordeaux in the United States. The portfolio is completed by Dominus in the Napa Valley, a collection of Burgundy estate-bottled wines, F.E. Trimbach wines from Alsace, Castello d'Albola in Chianti, and several other European wines and spirits.