Chilean Update from VIA Wines

Dear VIA Customers and Friends:

As you are most probably aware by now, Chile was hit by a very strong and devastating earthquake on Saturday morning of a magnitude of 8.8. For the magnitude of the earthquake the loss of life has not been as terrible as in Haiti, but the damage to infrastructure, homes and buildings is quite severe, especially in the area close to the Epicenter. Thank God we do not know of any loss of personal life of people directly or indirectly related to the VIA Wines family of employees, but damage in the area is severe. The Maule and Bio-Bio area are the most affected areas, with more than half of the casualties coming from the Maule region. Our Maule winery is located 77 miles / 124 km NE of the epicenter and there have been several aftershocks since Sunday, some of a magnitude of up to 6.2. We have not been able to get in touch with the Colchagua (Lolol) winery and we have a team of people traveling there today. As the days go by and communications get re-established we are starting to learn more about the severity of this natural disaster and are deeply saddened by the millions of people that are being affected by it, some of them in our own VIA Wines family.

However, due to Chile being an "earthquake country" we are fairly well prepared and buildings are built under a strict code. The earthquake was very strong and it caused a lot of damage, a lot of families are homeless, more than 500,000 homes, affecting about 2 million people are inhabitable or have been lost. Another million homes have suffered damage.

As far as we know/have heard damage to infrastructure is as follows, as the hours pass we will know more and I will try to keep you informed:

Airport:

Santiago Airport is closed to international traffic until Friday, it might open sooner, flights are being diverted to other airports.

Concepcion Airport is closed and is being used for relief operations only

Ports:

The Talcahuano port was damaged and is closed, some fruit exports went out through Talcahuano.

San Antonio port (main fruit export port) is closed until further notice

Valparaiso port is open, but the traffic situation is being assessed. Our forwarders are having meetings with the port authorities in order to establish a new calendar for the ships based on the port situation. We will try to update you, otherwise please contact your forwarders to get more direct information from them.

Roads:

Roads/bridges have suffered severe damage, specially south of Talca. Our winery is north of Talca, but we have a lot of workers that live in Talca, we understand that traffic is slow due to the relief efforts and due to the condition of the roads. We also expect to have a shortage of trucks, as many of them will probably be used to transport food and other materials to the disaster areas.

Winery:

The winery is closed today. There is no power in the area, there is also a fuel shortage. The generator is being used to maintain the temperature in the tanks and the barrel room. We are engaging an expert to evaluate any structural damage to the winery and all agricultural installations and make sure it is safe for the workers to return. we are also inspecting all irrigation systems and water treatment plant to make sure there is no damage and/or any damage is repaired. The guest house and tasting rooms are closed, as they did suffer some damage.

A lot of the workers who live in Talca and San Rafael are of course taking care of their families first and trying to get the basic needs of water, food and electricity. We understand that there are 15 families of our VIA family that lost their homes and are on the street. We hope to have a more detailed report soon and hope to be up and running as soon as possible. We are also sending food and water from Santiago to all of our VIA families in the Talca/San Rafael area.

Suppliers:

We are holding meetings with our supply chain partners as well as our outsourcing partners to assess their situation (bottles, labels, corks, capsules, screw-caps, shippers, winemaking and viticultural supplies, fuel, personnel transportation to the vineyards and winery, banks, etc., etc.) and take the precautionary measures asap.

I will try to keep you posted as I learn more about the general situation and in particular about our winery, which should be up and running soon. At first sight, my recommendation to you would be to plan an extra two weeks of lead time to your orders, because even if we get up and running quickly again, I assume there will be a backup at the ports and they will prioritize non-perishable goods such as fruits, as we are getting into an important month for fruit and vegetable shipments from Chile. I would also personally like to recommend the use of thermal blankets for your containers, it is summer-time there and due to the port situation, there is the possibility of the containers being retained at the ports there for longer than usual. We will of course try to coordinate that this does not happen.

On a personal note, if you would like to donate to one of the many international and reputable organizations that are helping with relief efforts in Chile. I hope that because of the distance this serious tragedy is not forgotten quickly by the press and people, first reports of damage are calculated to be at about 30 billion U$ or U$ 1,875 per capita - about a fourth of the per capita income per person per year. Therefore the best way to help Chile and its economy is to keep buying Chilean products, not only wine, but also fruit and other Chilean products. Maule is one of the poorest provinces in Chile and it has been deeply affected, so the best way to help is to make sure that people can go back to their work-place and that jobs are secured.

I will try to keep you updated once I learn more...

Please keep the people that have been affected in your prayers...

With warmest regards