Report: Online Wine Sales Increasing Dramatically

Napa, Calif—The pace of online wine sales has increased dramatically in 2006 as wineries have begun to reach out to consumers in more sophisticated ways. A report released today by Inertia Beverage Group (IBG) shows that for the first half of the year its winery clients have increased their on-line sales by 423% over the same period last year.

The IBG Report on Internet wines sales can be found on-line at http://www.inertiabev.com .

WINERIES REACHING OUT TO CONSUMERS
According to IBG CEO Paul Mabray, the surge in on-line sales of wine is directly related to wineries stepping up their efforts to reach out to customers via online offers, rather than an increase by consumers in buying wine on-line.

“Among our winery clients we have seen a significant increase in their willingness to utilize their websites, e-mail and our REthink Engine to generate increased sales,” noted Mabray. “Though a lot of money is still being left on the table, it’s clear that wineries are becoming more sophisticated in their cultivation of the direct-to-consumer sales channel. Wineries are just starting to reap the potential of direct-to-consumer sales.”

HIGH END WINES DOMINATE SALES
To create the new report, IBG aggregated sales date from more than 250 winery clients that utilize their REthink Engine software to conduct on-line sales. While some of the increase in sales noted in the report relates to IBG’s own growth over the past year, the overall year-to-year trends in the report are dramatic. In addition to the increase in online sales, IBG discovered the following trends:

—-With 46% of on-line sales being made in California, wineries still have a somewhat provincial view of the on-line market. It also indicates there is tremendous room for growth in online sales to those residing outside California.

—-Wineries have responded rapidly to the increased demand for Pinot Noir and have targeted on-line buyers for these wines. The result is 1300% increase proportion of on-line sales that are of Pinot Noir bottlings

—-Internet selling is dominated by high-end wines as only 7% of wines sold in the first half of 2006 cost $19 or less.

Inertia Beverage Group was founded in 2002 by a group of wine industry professionals and technology innovators and veterans with the goal of revolutionizing the direct sales channel and helping the wine industry sell smarter. More information on Inertia Beverage Group, the REthink Engine and the REthink Initiative is available at http://www.inertiabev.com .

CONTACT:
Tom Wark, Wark Communications
707-933-9313 • tom@warkcommunications.com

Paul Mabray, Inertia Beverage Group
707-227-2187 • paul@inertiabev.com