Sonoma-Cutrer Lays Down a Quality Marker

Iconic Russian River Ranches Chardonnay Comes to Nevada in
Stelvin(R) Screwcap
WINDSOR, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
After 25 years, Sonoma-Cutrer winemaker Terry Adams finally feels
like he's getting the hang of crafting the Russian River Ranches
Chardonnay cuvee, and lots of people seem to agree: the wine has been
selected in an annual poll of top US restaurants as America's favorite
Chardonnay for 17 of the past 19 years.

For that reason, it was easy for him to decide something once
thought revolutionary, but now becoming more common among top-tier
wines. In Nevada, including food and wine Mecca Las Vegas,
Sonoma-Cutrer's RRR will now come to tables in a bottle closed with
Stelvin(R) screwcap instead of the familiar cork.

"It's simple, really," he says. "I want people to enjoy the wine
as I made it, and as I hoped they would be able to enjoy it when it
left the winery. It's no different than any quality decision we make,"
said Adams. "We always choose on the side of our consumers."

Winemaker Adams actually began considering screwcaps as early as
1983, when curiosity led the winery to bottle wine using a variety of
alternative closures. The trials continued over many years, and were
sometimes forgotten. In one such episode, Adams took some overlooked
wine bottled in screwcap five years earlier home, and found it not
just to his liking, but fresh and vibrant as the day it was bottled.

Further conversations with famed producers in Burgundy in the late
1990's led to a decision to bottle in screwcaps Sonoma-Cutrer's most
sought after wine, the five barrels produced each year and offered as
the limited release Founder's Reserve, starting with the 1999 vintage.

"Capturing the sense of place is the most important and most
romantic of all aspects of winemaking," explained winemaking veteran
Adams. "A screwcap helps me share my very best wine," he said. "It's
like capturing a little bit of Sonoma County in every bottle."

Screwcap closures help eliminate a problem called "cork taint"
sometimes evident as a musty, disagreeable odor when a wine bottle is
opened. Industry estimates vary, with some saying as much as five
percent of all wine suffers from such taint, but accepting even a
small percentage of wine as flawed strikes winemaker Adams as a bit
absurd. "We have the solution, and wine drinkers are both
adventuresome and inquisitive by nature, so the change should be
easy," he predicts.

Sonoma-Cutrer Brand Director John Hudson says great care has been
taken to assure that in the end, nothing much about Sonoma-Cutrer will
be different. The package featuring the screwcap looks much the same
as the cork-finish, and only a close-up and careful examination of the
bottle would even note the difference. Hudson says sophisticated
Sonoma-Cutrer wine drinkers are likely to applaud the change.

"Russian River Ranches is truly the winemaker's choice each year,
a blend of the unique vineyards that make up our home in Sonoma's
Russian River Valley," said Hudson. "Every glass is something special,
and a screwcap helps keep it that way."

Sonoma-Cutrer Russian River Ranches is found exclusively in
restaurants. The winery's offerings also include the Sonoma Coast
Chardonnay, available at retail, and limited release vineyard
designates Les Pierres, The Cutrer and special releases Founder's
Reserve and Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. For more information, visit
Sonoma-Cutrer on the web at www.sonomacutrer.com to learn more about

Sonoma-Cutrer and the unique experience offered to members of Club
Cutrer.

Note To Editors: digital images available

Where legal, samples are available for review

Please enjoy Sonoma-Cutrer wines responsibly

Brown-Forman is a diversified producer and marketer of fine
quality consumer products, including Jack Daniel's, Southern Comfort,
Finlandia Vodka, Casa Herradura, Canadian Mist, Korbel Champagne,
Sonoma-Cutrer, Fetzer, Bonterra, Virgin Vines, Bolla and Gala Rouge.

(C) 2008 Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards, Windsor, Sonoma County,
California.

Brown-Forman
James Caudill, 707-237-3461
Jim_Caudill@B-F.com
Mobile: 707-799-0144
After-Hours: 707-570-2098

Copyright Business Wire 2008