CEO INTERVIEW TED BASELER Heather Shavey Jim Klauer Doug Moore

Ted Baseler President & CEO Stimson Lane Vineyards and estates President and CEO – 20 months President of Stimson Lane Wine Group with company since 1984

Characteristics Humble Individual Well spoken Reserved Calm and Even Keeled Passionate and Proud of business Expert at his business

Wines One of the Top Ten Premium Wine Companies The Premiere Washington Wine Company Selling more than 30 million bottles of wine annually Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Crest Domaine Ste. Michelle SnoqualmieCol Solare NorthStarVilla Mt. Eden Conn CreekColour Volant Martinez Ports

Business April 2001 Reported strong sales and profits Revenue +10.6% Operating Profit +63.2%

New Growth Strategy Vision for capitalizing on quality products and unique position vs. acquisition Shift focus to improving operating results Reduce costs of goods sold Improve top end wines Eliminate underperforming assets Refocusing on existing operations Expected to deliver + 20% increases for 3 years to come

Implementation Rolled up his sleeves Key management team 11key execs Threw the nike shoe onto the table We are going to run together We need each part of the shoe to run Company is not broken but can run faster Monthly offsite meeting Grading and solving problems No side bar meetings after solved Provide focus to the team

Strategic Plan Roll out Ted personally Implemented focus groups of 12 Chaired meetings – traveling Explained, company is not broken Asked groups where do you rate? Everyone said at the bottom  Except customer service

Results Turned around the numbers First 20 month in control Careful not to take credit personally “It was not that difficult, just common sense, everything was there to make it successful, I had to focus the attention on the drivers of our business and get rid of the distractions.”

Awards (highlights) 2000 Stimson Lane has 5 wines on the Top 100 Wines of the World list Wine Spectator 2001 Stimson lane has 3 wines on the top 100 wines of the world list Wine Spectator Highest ranking White Wine in the world 2001csm cold creek chardonnay 93 Chateau ste. Michelle 9 top 100 wines in 8 years Columbia Crest 7 Top 100 Wines in the past 5 years Columbia Crest 8 of 13 current releases rating outstanding

Charity Stimson Lane Vineyards and Estates Northwest Wine Auction 14 years Benefiting Children’s hospital 2001 auction raised $1,500,000 Poncho Wine Auction 10 years Raising money for the arts 2001 auction raised $500,000 Concerts on the Green Villa Mt. Eden & Breast Cancer Research

Buzz Words Buy in Access to answers Value input from all levels of company Reminders of success Core Values and Core Brands Community Quality Statement Vision Mission Statement Winning team

Situational leadership Told story about specific situation Do the right thing Huge risk Serious doubts All alone no one following (competition) Huge success & reward Sold 15 months of inventory in 90 days