Blanc. Today he is in the president and chief executive officer of the Chalone Wine Group, the only American wine producer to be traded publicly.

He arrives in Bermuda for the first time on Sunday, and, in connection with Cosmopolitan Liquors Ltd, the local agent for Chalone, a series of events are planned for wine aficionados, including a tasting of the Chalone Vineyard Chardonnay on Tuesday, an Appellation seminar and tasting on Wednesday.

Winemakers' dinners are planned Thursday and Friday.

Mr. Woodward, president and CEO of the Chalone Wine Group took the California company public in 1984 and today over 7,000 people have shares in Chalone traded on the NASDAQ exchange.

Mrs. Gay Robinson at Cosmopolitan Liquors said: "Chalone is very prestigious.

They have some of the very best California wineries under their umbrella.'' In 1989, Chalone became associated with Domaines Baron de Rothschild (Lafite) through a cross-trading of shares. Most recently Chalone has acquired holdings in Washington State near Walla Walla.

Mr. Robert Farver, eastern regional sales director with Chalone, will conduct the Appellation Seminar and tasting with Mr. Woodward. Mr. Farver is noted for his Chalone seminars at the Bermuda Wine Classic.

Mr. Woodward's involvement with Chalone today can be traced back to the early 1960s when he took a wine appreciation course. Before long the Northwestern University MBA graduate started his own wine cellar and started a monthly wine club featuring informal dinners and tastings with Detroit friends.

In 1970, Mr. Woodward, with Touche Ross and Co. in Detroit, was transferred to San Francisco to the firm's Enterprise Group. His interests in wines led to professional contacts with northern California wineries. One of his early clients was the Robert Mondavi winery.

Two years after arriving in San Francisco, Mr. Woodward left Touche Ross & Co.

He joined Dick Graff, winemaker and principle investor in Chalone Vineyard, a small isolated property in Monterey County, to oversee business and marketing of Chalone while Mr. Graff would oversee the winemaking.

He condensed a five-year plan to two years and set about raising additional funds for the vineyard by attracting new shareholders privately.

He consulted a lawyer and structured an offering of shares at $10 each with a minimum purchase of 100 shares. The shares were sold to wine-interested customers. He secured further assistance from relatives and took out a third mortgage on his home.

During the first year, $150,000 was raised and in the second year of business, Chalone raised $250,000.

In the late 1970s, Mr William Hambrecht, a San Francisco-based venture capitalist, invested.

While raising capital for Chalone, Mr. Woodward and Mr. Graff entered into a partnership with Paragon Vineyards. In 1980, Paragon and Chalone formed Edna Valley Vineyard.

In 1984, Mr. Woodward took the company public. The efforts raised over $5 million by 1986 and helped finance the purchase of the Acadia Winery in the Napa Valley.

In 1990, the Chalone Wine Group acquired a 50 percent share in 140 acres of land known as Canoe Ridge in Washington State. Chalone is apparently in the planning stages of a possible winery there.

The companies most recent annual meeting was attended by 1,400 shareholders.

In 1977, the Edna Valley Vineyard, located near San Luis Obisbo, and the Carmenet Vineyard in the Mayacamas Mountains of Sonoma came under the Chalone umbrella. The Napa Valley Carneros District winery (Acadia) became part of Chalone in 1986.