New GE Monogram Wine Vault Combines Precise Environmental Management with an Advanced Inventory Management System and Flexible Racking Options

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky -- The new GE Monogram Wine Vault, designed for the consumer who loves fine wine, offers the ideal environment for storing and displaying wines. More than an appliance, the Wine Vault is a spacious, self-contained storage unit that is professionally installed in the consumer's home. The complex and often time-consuming process of tracking wine is made simple with the GE Monogram Cellar Management System?

Managing Large Collections
The enhanced Cellar Management System comes pre-programmed with information about thousands of wines. This electronic, all-in-one inventory system includes a 15-inch touch-screen, bar-code scanner and label printer along with the software. Key features of the system are:

• Bar code labeling to assist with locating wine and removing it from inventory
• Drop down menus allowing the user to quickly and easily classify each bottle entered into the system
• Maturity charts to manage hold time, peak and past-due drink time for each wine bottle in the cellar, allowing consumption of wine in the right maturity window
• Quick and easy look-up features to find bottles by country, type, and vintage
• Easy ongoing inventory maintenance to enter and remove bottles in seconds
• A graphic image of each wall and storage location in the cellar to track bottles in the cellar conveniently

New enhancements to the system include suggested wine and food pairings. If consumers don't have the exact type of wine in their vault for the meal served, the software can suggest the best match from what they own.

With enhanced reporting functionality, the Cellar Management System provides consumers with fun reports including identifying the most expensive bottle and least expensive bottle in their collection; an estimated number of party guests it would take to consume the current cellar inventory; how long it would take if the consumer, alone, consumed the inventory.

It will spot a consumer's favorite wine producer, favorite varietal and favorite country of origin. Just for fun, it can tell consumers the number of barrels their cellar would fill, the approximate weight of their cellar, and how tall it would stand if bottles were stacked end to end.

Maintaining Consistent Temperature and Humidity Levels
Monogram's new Wine Vault is designed specifically to manage and store fine wine in a secured environment. The Wine Vault measures approximately 8 feet high by 8 feet deep by 8-½ feet wide.

The 3,000 BTU cooling system cools the room to an optimal 55 degrees Fahrenheit, maintaining a consistent humidity level for long-term wine storage. Electronic controls use a self-calibrating temperature probe to ensure a consistent temperature throughout the wine vault. This digital cooling system allows wines to mature to full potential.

Insulated panels with an R-33 insulation factor and an airtight door seal help keep the temperature and humidity constant. The door can be locked to keep consumers' precious wine inventories secure.

Racking Options
Consumers may choose between the following two options for racking:

• Storage racks are designed for the consumer searching for functionality and maximum capacity - holding almost 1,100 bottles.
• Tasting racks are designed for consumers who like to display their collection. It replaces some of the inventory racks with an angled row for display and a tasting alcove in the back. Its maximum capacity is roughly 1,031 bottles.

Both rack options are made of fine redwood. Engraved metal plates label rack locations to help inventory wines by region and variety.

Distribution/Cost
National distribution is expected by Summer 2006. The estimated retail price for the Monogram Wine Vault is $35,000.

GE Consumer & Industrial spans the globe as an industry leader in major appliance, lighting and integrated industrial equipment, systems and services. Providing solutions for commercial, industrial and residential use in more than 100 countries, GE Consumer & Industrial uses innovative technologies and "ecomagination," a GE initiative to aggressively bring to market new technologies that help customers and consumers meet pressing environmental challenges, to deliver comfort, convenience and electrical protection and control. General Electric (NYSE: GE) brings imagination to work, selling products under the Monogram, Profile?GE, Hotpoint, SmartWater?Reveal and Edison?consumer brands, and Entellisys?industrial brand. For more information, consumers may visit www.ge.com.