WINE HARVEST KICKS OFF IN THE FRENCH RHONE VALLEY EARLIER THIS YEAR

USPA NEWS - Kick-off of the harvest to the Rhone Valley, which benefited from optimal conditions start earlier than last year. Ripening is well advanced and ran quickly with good uniformity on the Grenache and Syrah.This vintage 2015 promises to be particularly concentrated and should be exceptional red wines.

KICK OFF OF THE RED WINE HAVEST IN THE RHONE VALLEY ON SEPTEMBER 7 EARLIER THAN 2014---------- After a rainy winter, a spring well watered until June and a Mediterranean summer, in short ideal conditions, the vineyards of the Rhone Valley is preparing to slightly early harvest than usual. The kickoff of the harvest will be given this Thursday, August 27, 2015 in the early sectors of the vineyards of the Rhône Valley while the real start for red wines should be around September 7, a week earlier than in 2014 . In the northern part, the first harvests are also expected to begin by the end of August for the white areas of early and early September for red, an advance of about two weeks compared to 2014. We already observed nice phenolic maturity which give hope solar, concentrated wines.... For a vineyard that has benefited from optimal conditions The vineyards of the Rhone Valley approached the summer with significant water reserves. With rains of June, the vine has supported the high summer temperatures and lack of rain. The flowering took place in good conditions. The few rains in August favored maturation in the most droughty soils.

EARLY MATURITY SHOW HIGH LEVELS OF PHENOLICS AND ANTHOCYANINS MEANS AN EXCELLENT VINTAGE WINE--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To date, the physiological state of the vineyards of the Rhône Valley illustrates perfectly the Rhône varietals adapt to the climatic conditions of the region: hot, dry and windy. The Rhône Valley vineyards with deep roots are very adapted to the Mediterranean climate and climate advantaged in such a situation. Early maturity samples show high levels of phenolics and anthocyanins on all sectors. The cool nights of recent days contribute to the phenolic maturation. At the end of August, the state of health is excellent. Ripening is well advanced and ran quickly with good uniformity on the Grenache and Syrah.This vintage 2015 promises to be particularly concentrated and should be exceptional red wines.

SOME IMPORTANT FIGURES IN THE VINEYARD OF THE RHONE VALLEY-------------------------------------------------- The wines of the Rhone Valley represent 69,000 hectares and 5,300 wine farms producing 3.1 million hl harvested in 2014 and 390 million bottles sold in 2013/2014. Products of 6 departments, the wines of the Rhône Valley are the primary economic activity of the region with 390 million bottles sold in 159 countries in 2013/2014. The turnover of 1.47 billion euros were generated by the AOC wines of the Rhone Valley with 97% of wine consumers in France that are aware of the AOC Côtes du Rhône. We estimate 46,000 direct or indirect jobs make the wine business 1 Press Service Inter-Rhone employer in the Rhone Valley.