** NEWS RELEASE **
Tuesday February 23, 11:28 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Araldica Signs Joint Venture Agreement
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 1999--Araldica Wineries, Ltd. announced today that it has signed a joint venture agreement with Lionstone International, Lake Bluff, Illinois, the country's largest distributor of wines servicing direct response marketing companies in the alcoholic beverage industry.
Terms of the joint venture agreement call for Lionstone to become one of Araldica's primary direct response marketers of, and its exclusive national fulfillment organization for, the company's proprietary "Knights of Italy" custom-labeled premium Italian wines; Lionstone plans to shortly expand Araldica's unique marketing concept (Italian family coats-of-arms reproduced on custom-labeled Italian wines, being sold via direct mail to Italian-American consumers). The new "Knights of ....." series of custom-labeled wines will soon include German, Portuguese, French, Spanish and other quality European wines, to be promoted via direct mail to the various ethnic groups of American consumers having family origins in such countries.
The agreement further specifies that Lionstone will both utilize its own wines and those produced by Araldica's subsidiaries, to fulfill customer orders generated by its continuing series of national direct response wine promotions.
Lionstone is part of privately held SLJ Group, Inc., a 10 year old, multifaceted company servicing the food and beverage industry as an importer, consultant, marketer, compliance expert, warehousing facility, fulfillment house and distributor; it functions as a "Master Distributor" for the very successful Merchant Direct catalog clubs: Beer Across America; International Wine Cellars; Cigar Affair; Coffee Quest; and Spa Discoveries.
Lionstone also has exclusive custom-labeling contracts with Major League Baseball and the National Football League (via Big League Bottling), and also counts among its client roster many additional quality sales organizations, like Design Toscano, Remy Publishing and Sotheby's, as well as Gourmet Gift Net, Beverages Direct and Virtual Vineyards, all of which are among the most successful internet retailers and direct marketers in their respective fields.
Araldica Wineries, Ltd. (which trades publicly under the symbol "AWLT" on the OTC bulletin board) is in its 6th year of operation; its business activities encompass the manufacture, importation and sale of premium Italian wines and olive oils, as well as selected gourmet foods and Italian specialty foods.
Contact:
Araldica Wineries, Ltd., New York
Frank J. Landi, Sr., 212/982-9555 |
