Committed to Protecting Its Wines, Acacia Switches to Synthetic Cork.

Business Editors/Food & Wine Writers

NAPA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 4, 2002

Making a significant commitment to ensure its consumers open a perfect bottle of wine, Acacia is now bottling all of its wines with synthetic cork.

Industry experts estimate that three to five percent of all wines are "corked," meaning they have a musty, moldy odor that is primarily caused by a defective natural cork. Cork is traditionally made from the bark of cork oak trees. Michael Terrien, Director of Winegrowing at Acacia, believes that synthetic is the right way to protect his wines -- particularly Acacia's limited production Single Vineyard Selection wines, which retail for $50 and more -- from being corked. "As a winemaker, why would I intentionally ruin at least three percent of my wines by using bark?" asks Terrien. Synthetic cork seals bottles the same way bark cork does, and it has one tremendous advantage over traditional cork; it eliminates a major source of "corked" wine.

Because of his disgust with corked wines, Terrien was an early advocate of switching to synthetic. In July 2001, Acacia announced it was bottling certain wines using synthetic corks. Terrien said, "Bark corks have long been associated with fine wine, so during this first major trial of corks, we were concerned that consumers would think synthetic indicated lower quality wine. We waited for any complaints, but synthetic corks worked so well that we didn't receive a single negative comment."

And, while the goal for this trial was to protect the wine from becoming corked, the winery discovered some added consumer benefits of using synthetic cork; it didn't break or crumble into the wine and it could be more easily pulled from a bottle than a bark cork. Because of the positive consumer response, this spring Acacia has begun using synthetic cork to bottle all of its wines.

"Switching to synthetic is not a cost savings measure but a quality control issue," said Terrien. "I want to control every aspect of the wine, including making sure our customers taste the same wine that we put into the bottle."

Acacia is owned by the Chalone Wine Group, Ltd., a Napa-based company specializing in premium red and white varietal wines. In California, the Company owns and operates Acacia(TM) Winery in the Carneros District of Napa County, Moon Mountain Vineyards, Carmenet(R) Vineyards, and Dynamite Vineyards in Sonoma County; Chalone Vineyard(R) in Monterey County, and Provenance Vineyards(TM), Hewitt Vineyard and Jade Mountain in Napa County. In conjunction with its 50 percent joint-venture partner, Paragon Vineyard Co., the Company also owns and operates Edna Valley Vineyard(R) in San Luis Obispo County. In Washington State, the Company owns and operates Sagelands Vineyard(TM) and Canoe Ridge Vineyard(R). Additionally, the Company produces and markets wines under the brand name Echelon Vineyards. In the Bordeaux region of France, the Company owns 23.5 percent of the fourth-growth estate of Chateau Duhart-Milon, in partnership with Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) which owns the other 76.5 percent.