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Foster's Brewing Group Ld
20 February 2001


                     New Name Defines Global Growth Strategy for
                            Beringer Blass Wine Estates


The world's leading premium wine group, created in October 2000 by the union of
Beringer Wine Estates (BWE) and Mildara Blass Limited (MBL) within the Foster's
Brewing Group, today announced a new name to mark the launch of its global
growth strategy.

The wine group is now called Beringer Blass Wine Estates (Beringer Blass),
incorporating the names of the flagship Californian and Australian wine brands.
Beringer Blass Wine Estates includes the company's entire combined portfolio of
premium and luxury wines.

"Our new name signals our future direction, which is to maximise our combined
strengths in high-return, high-growth wine markets worldwide," said Mr Terry
Davis, Managing Director of Beringer Blass.

"Across the world, we have combined our wine trade sales representation to
ensure that customers benefit fully from our unrivalled capability in premium
winemaking, brand management and international distribution. Market by market,
we're also targeting our sales efforts to meet the needs of different customer
segments."

Management appointments

Three key group management appointments recognise the global nature of the wine
business and the strength of the combined management team.

BWE's CEO, Walt Klenz, will lead the global trade brand development panel, as
well as continuing as CEO of Beringer Blass' trade operations in the US. 

BWE Chief Financial Officer, Pete Scott, will assume additional global financial
planning and strategy responsibilities for the wine group while continuing to
manage finance and administration for the US trade operation.

Peter Perrin, Director of International Sales for MBL, assumes responsibility
for the combined wine group's international sales outside of Australia and the
US.

Other senior management appointments will occur progressively to reflect the
growth ambitions of the organisation.

United States

In the United States, which accounts for more than 50% of Beringer Blass'
groupwide case sales, revenue and assets, the wine trade channel's 95-strong
sales force has been structured to drive growth in three key customer segments -
premium, luxury and on-premise.

In those American states where BWE and MBL have shared distributors, the sales
force will represent the combined portfolio of brands. Elsewhere (about 30% of
the country), Australian wine brands will be represented by a dedicated sales
group within the Beringer Blass US operation.

MBL's sales office in North Carolina will be combined with BWE's Napa Valley
office by 1 July 2001, when all trade operations in the US will move to
Beringer's advanced financial and marketing reporting systems. The Napa office
will provide financial and systems support to the European trade sales
operations over the next year.

Europe and Asia

Beringer Blass aims to increase export sales of the wine group's Californian
premium wine portfolio using MBL's and BWE's existing network of International
distributors, with the European market, particularly the UK, as top priority.

Two European sales offices will manage the distribution drive, targeting
five-star hotels, upmarket restaurants and premium liquor outlets.

The former MBL sales office in London will manage the sales drive in the UK,
Ireland and Scandinavia. A second European sales office will drive sales growth
on the Continent, highlighting the wine group's commitment to locate sales
representatives close to each target market.

In the UK, the market share for Californian wines has risen from 4.2% in 1998 to
6.3% in 2000 - approximately 29% growth year on year. In comparison, Australian
wine now has a market share in the UK, of 15.8% by volume, growing at 31% year
on year.

"Ten years ago, the market share for Australian wines in the UK was 2.6%
compared with 1.7% for Californian wines," said Mr Davis. "So we are confident
about the prospects for Californian wines in this market given their recent
strong growth rate."

On the continent, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland will be targeted, as
they have experienced the fastest growth for Californian bottled table wines.

The wine group's sales representation in Asia has also been strengthened, with
MBL's export manager for the region relocating to Singapore and increasing the
sales effort in the high-growth potential markets of northern Asia. Californian
wines sell well in Japan and Taiwan, where their market share is greater than
for Australian wines.

Australia

In Australia, Beringer Blass will target a number of high prestige on-premise
establishments to raise the profile of the wine group's Californian luxury
wines.

"Australia is not a priority target market for our Californian wine exports,
because most Australians want to drink Australian wine," said Mr Davis.

"Our strategic focus in Australia is to upgrade wine processing infrastructure
to cater for Beringer Blass' combined growth in target export markets.

"We will take advantage of Beringer's unparalleled success in selling luxury
wines in the US market through an exciting collaboration between Beringer
Winemaker Ed Sbragia and our Chief Winemaker in Australia, Chris Hatcher, who
will explore joint winemaking opportunities in Australia.

"Taking the lead from our US marketing success, we will also increase support
and marketing spend for our core Australian brands. "

As well as outdoor and print campaigns for brands such as Yellowglen, Yellow
Chardonnay and Red Shiraz, the Australian business has launched its first-ever
television campaign with the $2 million Wolf Blass "Always at its Peak" campaign
which commenced last month.

Several key Australian wineries will be renamed to emphasise their unique
heritage and wine brand success.

The Beringer Blass name will apply immediately to electronic communications
(email, web sites etc.), while new stationery, publications and signage will be
completed by 1 July 2001. With a common "look and feel" globally, the wine
group's new visual identity features Beringer's Rhine House symbol in the US,
the Wolf Blass eagle in Australia and a combination of the two elsewhere.

"The most crucial aspect of our overall renaming approach is a renewed focus on
core brand support and brand differentiation at the consumer level," said Mr
Davis. "Our absolute priority is to nurture and promote the individual
identities of our wineries, winemakers and wines, taking pride in their unique
styles and stories."

Further Information

Australia/Asia Pacific: Rell Hannah, Director-Corporate Affairs
           Telephone + 61 (0)3 9690 9966, 61 (0)419 369 075 
United States: Mora Cronin V-P Public Relations & Corporate Affairs 
           Telephone + 1 707 963 8999, ext. 2243.

Beringer Blass Wine Estates has wine trade sales offices in the following
countries:

USA (California, Illinois, Texas, Connecticut, Florida)
Australia (all mainland capital cities)
Canada
United Kingdom
Switzerland
New Zealand
Singapore
Hong Kong

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