For more information, contact:

Teri Smith, Marketing Director Office: 573-442-4660 Cell: 573-424-8896 [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oak Solutions Group Designs an Innovative Toasting System for Tank Staves, Launches ‘Precision Fire Toast’ Tank Stave Series into the Market

NAPA, Calif. (March 16, 2015) – Oak Solutions Group is pleased to announce the latest addition to its portfolio: the Precision Fire Toast tank stave series, which offers new flavors and exceptional accuracy for every stave thanks to an innovative new toasting system. “We are always pursuing innovations and developing new products – this is one of our signatures,” confirmed Kyle Sullivan, international sales director. “As we brainstormed what the next milestone could be, we realized fire toasted tank staves are well utilized in the industry but could be further explored. Furthermore, if technology could be developed to master control of the thermodynamics and ensure strict adherence to the nuance of every recipe, it would revolutionize this category of oak alternatives.” Oak Solutions Group spent two years developing a new fire toast system focused on tank staves as a collaboration between its innovation, research & development and engineering divisions. The resulting proprietary system features state of the art technology to closely control the thermodynamics, ensuring a consistent and accurate toast on all tank stave surfaces and for every batch toasted. Tank staves are also in 360 degree rotation, turning at key points during the toast to achieve consistency and full flavor development. With a new system in place, the company then identified sensory targets for new tank stave products and began developing recipes to achieve them. “We get to be food scientists, using science to achieve a desirable sensory result,” said David Llodrá, director of research and development. “After talking to winemakers and evaluating what is needed in the market, we identified four targets, each one distinct from the other. We then created recipes and conducted tastings throughout the process, both to audit the success of our technology and to approve new recipes.” Precision Fire Toast tank staves have now been launched as a new series in the company’s ēvOAK brand. The series offers key flavors that work well for modern winemaking styles. Two of the flavors focus on a fruit forward approach – Fruit and Balance – while the other two flavors showcase the richness fire toasting can achieve – Savory and Intense. “We have an exceptional platform now to push the envelope of what is possible through fire toasting and resulting flavor gradients,” said Llodrá. “It will be exciting to keep pursuing this. Moving forward, we will continue to develop new toasts based on client consultation and flavors sought after in the market.” Oak Solutions Group is a premium oak products company focused on providing expert advice and unparalleled selection. Oak Solutions Group distributes three product lines: ēvOAK forward thinking oak products, trū/tan innovative oak tannins, and Custom Blends.

###