Red Truck Wines Rolls out the Pink!

Pink Truck is First Major Category Alternative in 20 Years

SONOMA, Calif. -- Red Truck Wines, known for its popular Red Truck and White Truck blended wines as well as its single-varietals, has just introduced Pink Truck, a pink wine blend of Zinfandel, Grenache and Mourvedre. Line-priced with its hallmark Red Truck and White Truck blends, Pink Truck is available in selected states and is scheduled for national distribution in January 2007.

"This is a natural next step for a brand that is on-target to double its growth in the current fiscal year," said Dan Leese, President of Axiom Wine Company, which bought Red Truck Wines from the Cline family in December 2005. "The pink category is ripe for a new entrant at this higher price point. Twenty-five million cases of White Zinfandel are sold in the U.S. every year, and consumers haven't had any new choices to speak of in the category for nearly 20 years."

With 20% less residual sugar than the leading brands, Pink Truck targets consumers looking for a drier, more sophisticated pink wine that still has some of the sweetness they like. Its taste profile fills the marketplace void that lies between very sweet White Zinfandels and very dry Roses.

"In extensive national research, two-thirds of White Zinfandel consumers told us they want more choices in the pink wine category, and 75% reported they would be willing to pay more for a significantly better wine," said Carol Reber, Vice President, Marketing for Axiom. "Consumers want to trade up, and the wine industry hasn't responded. Finally, Pink Truck gives them an exciting, fun alternative."

"It's amazing to me that other popular varietals -- Chardonnay, Cabernet, Merlot -- offer consumers hundreds, even thousands of choices, while the equally popular White Zinfandel category offers just a handful," commented Doug Walker, partner and Chief Operating Officer of Axiom. "We hope to expand the category with Pink Truck, appealing not only to current consumers, but to those looking for a different pink wine, one that's drier, more cutting edge, and that doesn't take itself too seriously."

Pink Truck is made by Charlie Tsegeletos, longtime winemaker for Red Truck Wines and Cline Cellars. With Grenache and Mourvedre added for fuller flavor, refinement and sophistication, the wine is awash in fruit flavor -- juicy strawberries and ripe raspberries -- with structure and complexity unmatched in the category. The brightly colored label and shipper, featuring an original painting by renowned Sonoma artist Dennis Ziemienski (who created the Red Truck label), is also breakthrough for the category, with a jean-clad woman standing by a hot pink 1939 Chevrolet.

"A small number of brands dominate the pink business, with about 70% market share of the 750ml. bottle business, and the wines have virtually the same price, flavor, and packaging," commented Leese. "Very few, if any, other wine categories have had as little variety or innovation as this one. Pink Truck hits a different profile in all three areas -- taste, price and packaging. It's something entirely new for the consumer."

First introduced by Fred and Nancy Cline of Sonoma's Cline Cellars in 2002, today Red Truck and White Truck wines are being driven by wine industry veterans Dan Leese and Doug Walker who purchased the majority interest of the brand from the Clines in 2005 and formed the Sonoma-based Axiom Wine Company. The two friends and business partners were drawn to Red Truck not only because of its prior success, but because the brand evokes the qualities they want their new business to embrace: fun, energetic and adventurous, a vehicle for getting you where you want to go, but where the ride is as important as the destination.