Boisset Family Estates Debuts Fog Mountain

Boisset Family Estates Debuts Fog Mountain
The First California Wine Launched in the US in a 1-Liter PET¹ Plastic Bottle

SAUSALITO, CA, May 27th, 2009 – Boisset Family Estates announces the debut of Fog Mountain, the first California wine in a 1 liter PET bottle launched in the U.S. Fog Mountain builds upon Boisset’s global environmental commitment, which spans organic and biodynamic farming on its estates, to winery initiatives to use renewable energy and reduce water consumption, to an innovative portfolio of wines in alternative packaging that reduce the carbon footprint through a wine’s entire life cycle.

Boisset has been the leader in introducing PET wine bottles to the US wine market, from its Louis Bernard Bonus Passus Côtes du Rhône – the first AOC wine in PET bottles – to the bold move to lead the wine world into shipping all of its 2008 Beaujolais Nouveau in PET bottles, reducing the weight, energy consumed in transit and production, and the carbon footprint of every case shipped. Boisset encouraged its wine world partners to follow its lead. In the June 24th, 2008 issue of The Economist, Boisset’s innovative, alternative packaging was covered, followed by Forbes coverage of Boisset’s first release in PET: “debunking the notion that good wines come only in glass bottles sealed with corks, French winemaker Boisset Family Estates is introducing into the U.S. a 750-milliliter polyethylene terephthalate [PET] bottle of wine called Yellow Jersey.” Fog Mountain is Boisset’s first California wine in innovative alternative packaging, and its first 1 liter PET bottle offering two more glasses than a traditional 750ml bottle.

“We are excited to add Fog Mountain, and a California wine, to our leading portfolio of wines in innovative packaging,” says Jean-Charles Boisset, President of Boisset Family Estates. “In today’s time, we genuinely believe that it is vital for all of us to consider the environmental impact of our wines, and our entire supply chain, and to find solutions to reduce our carbon footprint while delivering the highest-quality, best value and most consumer benefits that we can. We believe Fog Mountain can be a part of that solution, and we’re thrilled at the leadership shown by Dan Hoffman and his team at Marriott International to embrace a bold initiative for the wine world.”

#1 PET bottles are high quality, safe, and recyclable plastic bottles with zero impact on the wine quality. PET offers lightweight, 100% recyclable plastic bottles that have an estimated 60% lower carbon footprint than traditional wine bottles. PET has a meaningful life once recycled, becoming new PET bottles, fleece fabric, and more. In fact, 7 recycled Fog Mountain 1L wine bottles produce enough material to create 1 extra-large t-shirt. PET is, and always has been, BPA-free. Boisset’s bottle, produced in partnership with EnVino Bottles and bottled in conjunction with Bravo Bottling, features a unique oxygen barrier called MonOxbar™ that ensures the wine has a long shelf-life. The shatterproof bottle finished with a screwcap provides ease-of-use, safety, and convenience. Consumers also benefit from the added value of a 1L bottle, offering 33% more wine than a typical 750ml bottle.

Boisset Family Estates is well-known as a dynamic pioneer for innovation and sustainability in the wine world with French rabbit wines in Tetra Pak cartons, Yellow Jersey and Louis Bernard’s Bonus Passus Côtes du Rhône AOC in 750ml PET bottles, and Mommessin Beaujolais Grande Reserve in 750ml aluminum bottles featuring the Cooldot™. Jean-Charles Boisset was recently named 2008’s “Innovator of the Year” by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. In June 2007 he was named to Decanter Magazine’s list of the Top 50 Power Brokers in the global wine industry, and in March 2008 he received the Meininger International Wine Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the publishers of Meininger’s Wine Business International. The Boisset Family Estates' Beaujolais Nouveau in PET won an AmeriStar Beverage Package Award – the only wine package recognized in the 2008 competition.

Fog Mountain is 100% Merlot sourced from prime growing areas throughout California. The wine features a dark ruby color with aromas of raspberry jam. Mouth-filling black cherry, dusty chocolate, and blackberry flavors finish soft with ripe plum notes.

Fog Mountain will be available nationwide at JW Marriott hotels and at fine wine retailers beginning in June 2009.

About Boisset Family Estates
Boisset Family Estates is a family-owned producer and importer of fine wine, with its origins in the world’s pre-eminent terroir for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Nuits-St.-Georges, France. Its goal is to express the qualities of its wines with an “art de vivre” and style that consistently honors provenance and enhances terroir, history, heritage, and quality. With its roots in Burgundy, France, Boisset is one of the world’s leading producers of Pinot Noir, from DeLoach Vineyards in California’s Russian River Valley to Domaine de la Vougeraie in Burgundy, and one of France’s top exporters of premium wines. For more information on the company and its wineries, please visit www.boissetfamilyestates.com.

Samples and images are available upon request.

For more press information, wine samples or additional images, please contact: Kendall Johnson, Charles Communications Associates at kendall@charlescomm.com or (415) 701-9463; or Patrick Egan, Boisset Family Estates at patrick.egan@boisset.com or (415) 289-4520.

¹PET stands for “polyethylene terephthalate” and it is a thermoplastic polymer resin used in packaging applications. Lightweight and safe (BPA-free – now and always), PET weighs 90% less than traditional bottles, and conserves fuel, energy and greenhouse gases throughout its lifecycle, from production to transit to recycling. It is estimated to have a 50-60% smaller carbon footprint than a traditional bottle and is 100% recyclable.

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