Consumers Watch Harvests at Top Wineries via the Web

September 2000 -- WineToday.com (www.winetoday.com), an online publication from New York Times Digital, the Internet division of The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT), announced the launch of HarvestWatch 2000(TM).

For the first time ever, consumers can log onto the site and travel along with experts to the top international wine estates for an inside "peak" into the harvests - and personalities - of each. This year's coverage will span the globe from the European wine regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Tuscany and Piedmont, to those in Northern California and Oregon, providing exclusive details and insight into how the first vintages in the new millennium are taking shape.

Live Visits to Vineyards Around the World

"By logging onto www.winetoday.com/harvestwatch2000, beginning wine enthusiasts - as well as aficionados - can read and view live, play-by-play broadcasts from famous vineyards and Chateaux around the world," said Leslie Sbrocco, editor of WineToday.com. These reports, which will be led by Ms. Sbrocco, will also include commentary from New York Times wine columnist Frank Prial and WineToday.com editor Tim Fish.

The mystery behind the harvest process and diverse cultures driving the wine industry will be revealed through a series of interactive multimedia pages and more than 20 video segments. Features include live web cam images broadcast via HarvestCam(TM), and 360-degree panorama tours of famous wineries from the properties and cellars, such as Chateau Haut-Brion in Bordeaux, and Marchesi de' Frescobaldi's Castello di Nipozzano in Tuscany.

There will also be a unique "Ask the Experts" feature, which gives site visitors the ability to ask questions and get answers about wine, food and travel. The site will be complete with tools such as vintage charts, clickable maps, a glossary, food and wine matches and more from Oz Clarke's Wine Guide.

Taking HarvestWatch 2000(TM) one step further - from the Internet to the real world - WineToday.com is teaming up with France in Your Glass, US Airways and the Wine Enthusiast catalog to offer an online sweepstakes. Readers can enter to win a Grand Prize trip for two to France and a second prize trip to the Napa Valley. This exciting opportunity will allow consumers to take all of their newly-acquired information "out into the field" where they can touch, feel, smell and taste the fruits of the wine labor. Registration is available at www.winetoday.com/harvestwatch2000. *

About WineToday.com and New York Times Digital

WineToday.com features timely coverage of consumer and industry news, including a rich database of winery profiles, wine reviews, a wine and food matching tool, a multimedia wine atlas, and more. WineToday.com is part of New York Times Digital, the Internet division of The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT). New York Times Digital provides news, information and interaction through its own Web sites as well as affiliate partners. New York Times Digital includes NYTimes.com (www.nytimes.com), Boston.com (www.boston.com), newyorktoday.com (www.nytoday.com), WineToday.com (www.winetoday.com), GolfDigest.com ( www.golfdigest.com) and Abuzz, an online knowledge-sharing network.

* Deadline for all entries is Midnight, Pacific Standard Time, Friday, November 3, 2000. Must be able to travel between May 28 to June 30th, 2001. All travel restrictions apply. No purchases required.