About Pinotage

Pinotage Inc. was founded in 1994 as a privately owned corporation registered in Minnesota. John and Antoinette Synesiou own the corporation.

We arrived from South Africa in 1993. Being ex- South African, we have close ties to its wine industry and an intimate knowledge of the country and its people. We visit South Africa on an annual basis, cementing relationships with existing vineyards, tasting new wines, and interviewing new wineries.

Antoinette is involved in the operations of the company and Diana Herman represents the marketing division. The head office is based in Minnetonka, Minnesota and warehousing facilities are maintained in Minneapolis.

Mission Statement

As an importer of South African wines, we are dedicated to creating market acceptance for South African wines on a national basis. We intend to have continued growth and continued importation of our exclusive and good value wines.

We maintain a friendly, fair and creative work environment, which respects diversity, new ideas and hard work.

Keys to Success

• Importing good value and consistent quality wines
• Sourcing and importing South African wines that appeal to the ever-changing American palate
• Expanding lines of existing and new wineries/estates/vineyards
• Building solid, long-term relationships with our distributors
• Helping our distributors gain market awareness for South African wines
• Delivering the product to distributors in a timely fashion
• Updating information on new wine releases and developments
• Entering wine tasting competitions, partaking in wine shows, submitting new wine releases to various publications for tasting and reviews
• Creating awareness of South African wines for consumers
• Gaining press coverage in wine magazines and in various local newspapers

Quality Wines

The wines Pinotage represents are referred to as V.Q and E.Q wines.

V.Q: Volume and Quality: These wines are selected by our distributors for their quality appeal and good value within the general wine drinking U.S.A. market. Most importantly, their volume or quantity must enable Pinotage to meet the demand of such wines within the U.S.A. market. The V.Q wines are purchased from vineyards/wineries that meet such criteria.

E.Q: Exclusive Quality: These wines are selected by our distributors for their quality appeal to the more discerning wine connoisseur/drinker as well as the serious wine collector. These wines are purchased from selected vineyards/ estates who can supply a steady if rather small volume of consistent quality wines. The E.Q wines will be marketed accordingly.

Pinotage's History

During the first year of operation, Pinotage focused on gaining its liquor importers license, registering its imported wine labels, performing market research, setting-up agreements with a local distributor, and importing wines that would gain market acceptance.

Pinotage started seriously marketing wines from August 1995. Since 1995, Pinotage has imported approximately 6,000 cases of wine. Our forecast for 1998 is approximately 6,000 cases. This forecast is conservative; as can be seen from the imported wine consumption figures, the majority of imported wines are consumed on the East Coast. We just entered this market in September 1997. We therefore predict significant growth during 1998.

The following list details our distributor appointments:

• Minnesota - May 1995
• Wisconsin (Eau Claire) - November 1995
• Illinois (Chicago) - April 1996
• Indiana - April 1996
• North Dakota - July 1996
• Michigan - (Detroit) November 1996
• Virginia (Washington D.C) - September 1997
• Maryland - September 1997
• New York - September 1997
• New Jersey - September 1997
• Florida - October 1997
• Massachusetts - May 1998

We are presently negotiating with Georgia, Vermont, Nevada, Ohio, Delaware, Connecticut, Kentucky, Wisconsin (Madison and Milwaukee), the District of Columbia, California, Colorado and Texas. We will be distributing in several of these states in late 1998 or early 1999.