Rare wines on the Web: Infowines.com - the first Internet portal for rare and speculative wines

·Independent Infomediary enables access to more than 650 rare wines from 15 countries

·Consolidates information in a fragmented and geographically spread market with annual market value estimated in the range of US$ 5-6 billion(Sfr 8–10 billion)

·Visibility provided for the first time on available stocks and prices

Geneva, Switzerland, 24 February 2000: - Infowines S.A. today formally launched the worlds first business-to-business (B2B) Internet portal devoted exclusively to rare and speculative wines. Billed as The Gateway To Rare Wines, Infowines.com consolidates information on a global basis about the available stocks and prices of rare and fine wines. The company estimates that the annual market value of rare wines is in the order of Sfr 8-10 billion (US$ 5-6 billion).

From the start, this is proving to be a useful working tool for the professional wine trade," said Morris Katri, co-founder of Infowines. From the sellers viewpoint, wine merchants can register their stocks of rare wines
forfree. They can then choose to be contacted either directly, or have Infowines for a fee, process buyers initial interests. And within our database we can also provide merchants the additional service of a free stock monitoring system through the linked Update Your Stock service."

Professional buyers who subscribe to Infowines.com - be they wine retailers, prestige restaurants, hotels or department stores - can search Infowines powerful real-time database on the basis of wine region, name, vintage, and price.

Infowines.com matches the stocks of merchants with these requests, and the buyer is then given direct access to the merchant to discuss and arrange their purchases.

Buyers can also use Infowines professional service to offer their stocks for sale. The result is that rare wines can be bought directly from merchants at competitive prices and prestige establishments can maintain the quality stocks that their customers demand. As Infowines content is real-time, subscribers are also kept up-to-date on the most attractive "offers of the day" posted by the business-to-business merchants.

The annual professional subscription is Euro 300 and provides access to the stocks of more than 300 merchants, wholesalers and distributors. The merchant offerings represent more than 650 rare wines from 15 countries.

No commission is charged on matching sellers and buyers, as Infowines revenues come from subscriptions, and it is planned in the future from advertising and additional B2B services.

We believe that as an independent infomediary, Infowines brings substantial benefits to both merchants and buyers. These benefits include access and knowledge of the availability of rare wines, coupled with an easy to use and efficient B2B buying system, and live real-time independent information," said co-founder, Arnaud Canoen Van Oudendycke. Were delighted by the enthusiastic industry participation and the number of registered wines and stockists are growing daily.

Infowines has recognised the opportunity to harness the powerofthe Web to deliver – for the first time in this market - real-time, independent information that enables the wine industry to check the availability of rare wines. Because of the way that the rare wines market has evolved, this information has never been available in one single source - until now," Arnaud concluded.

Infowines S.A. is the global Gateway to Rare Wines through its internet portal, Infowines.com. Infowines is the brainchild of wine professionals and wine lovers, Morris Katri and Arnaud Canoen Van Oudendycke, who recognised that the Internet could be used to bring together many different information sources on rare wines into one central and easily accessible service.

Infowines is an independent information resource for professionals and lovers of rare wines, and the company has no affiliations with groups, producers, merchants or organisations. The company has a growing base of registered stocks of rare wines and subscribers. Infowines was founded in 1999 and is financially backed
by 3i,the leading European venture capital company.

A demonstration of the site is available on www.infowines.com
ENDS

For further information please contact:Kai Romot for Infowines in Switzerland Tel: 0041 61 363 2005 Fax: 0041 61 363 2007

Note for journalists:
Globally, the number of rare wine brands is estimated to total between 650-1,000 wines from all the established wine-growing regions.The annual market value is estimated to be in the order of Sfr. 8–10 billion (US$ 5-6 billion).

Rare wines are characterised by small to medium levels of production; a high rating by respected wine experts; a considerably higher demand than offered product and availability and a recognisable and reputable brand or producer. This results in high prices and when combined with limited quantities, significant price fluctuations and speculation.

Examples of rare and speculative wines include great appellations from:
·US – Niebaum Coppola Rubicon, Screaming Eagle and Opus One
·Bordeaux – Chateau Margaux, Cheval Blanc and Petrus
·Burgundy –Romanee Conti, Comte Lafon, Comte de Vogue
·Italy – Guado ai Tasso, Luce, Sassicaia
·Spain – Janus Reserva, Unico, Pingus
·Portugal – Taylor Vintage, Fonsecca Vintage, Ramos Pinto Vintage
·Australia – Penfolds Grange Hermitage
·Chile – Alma Viva
·Lebanon - Chateau Musar
·Hungary - Tokaij Insignia