Chalone Wine Group Appoints Francois Muse as Chief Financial Officer.

NAPA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Thomas B. Selfridge, president & CEO of Chalone Wine Group (Nasdaq:CHLN), announces the appointment of Francois Muse to the position of chief financial officer. Muse began with Chalone in October, 1997 as corporate controller and subsequently served as acting CFO starting in July, 1998.

During his short tenure as acting CFO, Muse restructured Chalone's internal information-gathering process and also added considerable emphasis to Chalone's control environment. According to Selfridge, "Francois spearheaded and directed the process of streamlining our systems, making them infinitely more useful and informative. Our internal reporting has never been better. In addition, he significantly improved Chalone's financing arrangements through negotiations with Rabobank, poising us for our growth plans."

Prior to joining Chalone, Muse had been audit manager with Deloitte & Touche, LLP. While with Deloitte, Muse spent a year in Paris, capitalizing on his fluent French speaking skills and acquiring useful technical knowledge on French accounting. This experience parlayed into Muse's first introduction to Chalone, when he led the 1996 audit of Chalone's investment in Chateau Duhart-Milon. Muse holds a B.A. from the University of California at Davis in economics and statistics, completed extensive course-work in accountancy at the California State University at Sacramento, and has been a certified public accountant since 1995. He lives in Sacramento, CA with his wife Piper and son Philip.

The Chalone Wine Group is a Napa-based company that produces, markets and sells premium white and red varietal table wines. In California, the company owns and operates Chalone Vineyard in Monterey County, Acacia Winery in the Carneros District of Napa County, Carmenet Vineyard in Sonoma County and, in conjunction with its joint-venture partner, Paragon Vineyard Co., owns and operates Edna Valley Vineyard in San Luis Obispo County. Additionally, the company produces and markets wines of Central Coast appellation under the brand name Echelon Vineyards. In the State of Washington, the Company owns Staton Hills Winery and a 51% interest in Canoe Ridge Vineyard. In the Bordeaux region of France, the company owns 24% of the fourth-growth estate of Chateau Duhart-Milon, in partnership with Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) who own the other 76%.

From time to time, information provided by the Company, statements made by its employees or information included in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as its statements to the press may contain statements which are not historical facts, so called "forward looking statements," which involve risks and uncertainties. Forward looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this news release, the terms "plans," and other similar terms as they relate to the Company or its management are intended to identify such forward looking statements. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (i) future weather and general farming conditions affecting annual harvest quantity as well as quality; (ii) variations in market taste as well as demand; (iii) changes in the wine industry regulatory environment. Each of the factors, and others, are discussed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 1999, and subsequent quarterly reports on Forms 10-Q.