New Distributors for California

Chateau Julien Wine Estate and Emerald Bay are proud to announce that J &L Wines and Megawines will distribute our brands throughout California. See the below map and details for the company that carries our great wines!

Greetings!
I thought it prudent to notify everyone, with details, of our new California distributors. Please find attached a map of our state with color coded counties. Counties in Blue being MEGA WINE Inc. and counties in yellow being J&L WINES.
Mega Wines Corporate / Southern California Office:14718 Raymer Street, Van Nuys, CA 91405 T: 877-MEGAWINE
T: 818 781 9686 Fax: 818 781 9292 e-mail: info@megawine.com
Web: http://www.megawines.com/

Mega Wines Northern California:8359 Elk Grove Florin Rd, Suite 103-171 Sacramento, CA 95829 Tel: 916 686 2144 Fax: 916 686 1574

J & L Wines
P.O. Box 2399Paso Robles, CA 93447 OFFICE: (805) 239-1377FAX: (805) 239-2466EMAIL: manager@JandLWines.com
Web: http://www.jandlwines.com/



Thank you!
Lisa Belle Kaufman
National Sales & Marketing Manager
Chateau Julien Wine Estate
T 831-624-2600
C 831-224-2224

What is up for "Wine Consumption" at the Holiday's

As reported by Wine & Spirits Daily:

NIELSEN: CHANGING TRENDS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

A new report from Nielsen says consumers are likely to view alcoholic beverages as an "affordable indulgence" this holiday season. In fact, Nielsen expects more Americans to give alcoholic beverages as gifts this year, "helped by the usual selection of special 'value-added' packs." Nielsen's report gives a much brighter outlook then other outlets that have suggested the business will suffer in November and December, which accounts for a big chunk of annual sales. For example, AdAge printed an article yesterday claiming Champagne sales are expected to take a serious hit.

Grocery stores, c-stores and other off-premise retailers will benefit most as Americans increasingly choose to drink at home. Meanwhile, restaurants, bars and nightclubs "are facing serious challenges in the current economy" during a period when more consumers go out than any other time of year.

When Americans are eating out, some people are cutting back on how much they spend by ordering fewer or lower-priced drinks, especially as it relates to higher-priced wines and spirits. Other consumers are trading down by visiting "fast casual" restaurants and quick service restaurants that may offer few or no alcoholic beverages.

"Given the importance of the holiday season to restaurants and bars, these establishments will need to pull out all the stops to lure consumer traffic back, using a variety of creative incentives as a hook," said Richard Hurst, senior vice president, Beverage Alcohol, The Nielsen Company. "Watch for on-premise outlets to push customer loyalty programs to drive repeat business."

On-premise retailers are targeting consumers who used to go out more in order to drive repeat business. For example, Nielsen said grocery stores are targeting restaurant-goers with well-priced easy meals, and other stores are adding alcoholic beverages to their line up. Nielsen also expects to see a continued increase in online shopping, especially for wine, where legal to do so.

Richard suggests that on-premise retailers "consider multiple store display locations to capitalize on impulse purchasing, as well as providing gift accessories nearby, such as bottle openers, gift bags, mixed drink party pack ingredients and glassware."

DOMESTIC VS IMPORTS. Domestic wine, spirits and beer is now outperforming imports for a couple of reasons. For one, a weak USD is making imports more expensive. Also, "consumers are often biased toward national or local products" in tough economic times. According to Nielsen, domestic and imported wines were growing at the same double-digit rates last year, but domestic growth is now ahead of imports.

"While there is evidence of consumers reducing on-premise consumption, as well as trading down to less expensive beverages, they are reluctant to cut back significantly on beer, wine and spirits, especially for at home consumption and entertaining. With the prospect of limited economic recovery in 2009, consumers are likely to consider alcoholic beverages as an affordable indulgence during the holiday season."

Last Day of harvest at the Chateau

Harvest 2008 came to a close on the 30th of October, just one day ahead of the rain. The quality of the harvest was exceptional (another California vintage year). The last grapes harvested are at the Chateau main estate and are Sangiovese. These grapes will become the Rosato (Rose) and Sangiovese (Red).