USA: Golden State Vintners Comments On Preliminary Fiscal 2001 Projections

Golden State Vintners, Inc. (GSV) (Nasdaq:VINT) today clarified its preliminary projections for fiscal 2001, as reported in its August 16, 2000 earnings release for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2000. Subsequent comments suggest that there may have been some confusion regarding GSV's projections. As stated on August 16th, GSV's reported net income for the 2000 fiscal year was $2,723,000, or $0.28 per diluted share. Exclusive of one-time vineyard repositioning and one-time consulting charges of an aggregate of $0.17 per diluted share recognized during fiscal 2000, pro forma net income was $4,338,000, or $0.45 per diluted share. Based on pre-harvest estimates, the Company preliminarily projects fiscal 2001 earnings in the range of $0.38-$0.43 per diluted share, which GSV believes is in line with current analyst expectations. GSV is one of the largest suppliers of premium wines, wine processing and storage services, wine grapes and case goods in the United States. GSV provides a broad range of high quality winemaking and processing services, barrel fermentation, proprietary and private label bottling and storage services to many of the largest branded wineries in California and to a number of international wineries. Except for historical information, this press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to risks and uncertainties, including changing market conditions, product competition, adverse weather conditions and the nature of product development, that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. For more detailed discussion of these risks and uncertainties, see GSV's SEC filings, including its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1999 and its most recently filed Form 10-Q.