October 7, 2004

Sutter Home Winery
Bob Trinchero , CEO
100 Saint Helena Hwy S
Saint Helena, CA 94574

Dear Mr. Trinchero:

The Sutter Home for hope campaign does a disservice to millions of women by using concern about breast cancer to promote a product that actually contributes to the risk of this devastating disease.

Alcohol has been shown in more than 50 studies to be a risk factor for breast cancer. According to the 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans , women who consume more than one drink per day (i.e. one 5 oz glass of wine) appear to have a 10 percent increase in the risk of breast cancer. In Marin County, California-where breast cancer rates are among the highest in the nation-a two-year study by Marin Breast Cancer Watch and the University of California, San Francisco revealed that women who consumed two or more alcoholic drinks per day were diagnosed with breast cancer more than twice as often as those who drank less. At three drinks a day, the breast cancer rate is nearly four times higher.

I urge you to end future Sutter Home for hope campaigns and to label all of your wines with a consumer warning about the increased risk of breast cancer from alcohol consumption.

Regards,

Mark Pertschuk, Executive Director
The Marin Institute