Date: Monday, July 3, 2006

Re:	SUMMER SEASON

Dear Customers,

We would like to inform you that the summer season has officially arrived and with it the enemy -- the heat. Now in the Mediterranean there are sunny days with temperatures that easily reach 86ºF to 104º F, which can result in the temperature inside the container reaching 122º F to 131º F. With these increased temperatures, the wine will literally cook itself, and can result in a loss in quality, taste and freshness along with the additional risk of the corks popping out.

As wine and beverage logistics specialists, we at JF Hillebrand take special care on our side in order to avoid overheating of the container according to the following points:

• We will try to load dry containers during the first hours in the morning (but never at noon) so that containers can enter the port area before noon.
• We will try to load the containers close to the vessel’s departure dates.
• We will work to avoid the steamship lines short-shipping our containers due to lack of space or due to call cancellation. And, when we don’t have a space guarantee or we foresee any risks, we will keep you duly informed.
• In case of dry pick ups, we will avoid a pick up on a Friday or before a holiday if we can’t guarantee that the cargo will arrive at our warehouse that same day.
• We will request the steamship lines to instruct the port terminal that our containers should never stay on the top of the pile due to the characteristics of the commodity we are handling.

JF Hillebrand also asks from you and your suppliers your collaboration in order to execute pick ups as we have mentioned above and, recommend the following suggestions:

• Our first suggestion is to use reefer equipment during the summer season to avoid temperature fluctuations, which can undermine the organoleptic properties of your product.
• We also recommend that the reefer equipment is plugged in during the inland haulage and at the port terminal. If we don’t have specific instructions on the contrary, we will always plug it in.

We hope this procedure allows your product to arrive at its final destination with all its properties intact so that you can taste it in all its intensity.

At the same time, we want to inform you that due to the beginning of the hurricane season in the Caribbean, your shipments to the U.S. Gulf, Central America and Caribbean can be affected by the same conditions. We cannot guarantee the transit times 100% as forecasted by the steamship lines due to factors we cannot control.

We hope this information is useful to you. In case you need any further detail, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Regards,

North American Shippers Association (NASA)
Joan Barrett
NASA Administrator