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BACKGROUND of $848,000 (see Exhibit 1). Kay was concerned that the 2010
profit margin had declined from the 2009 profit margin of
The Aproveche family owns and operates a small independent 14%, despite a small increase in sales volume.
winery located in the Napa Valley California American
Viticultural Area (AVA).1 À Votre Santé (AVS), which means WINEMAKING PROCESS
“to your health” in French, enjoys a reputation for producing
small amounts of quality wines. AVS was started by Jerome The process of winemaking is fairly simple, yet requires
Aproveche in 2005 as an extension of the family’s grape- much attention to process details. Harvest takes place in
growing operations and as a means to involve his children in the late summer and early fall months; typically, the time
the wine business. This path is not an unusual one in Napa elapsed from harvest to final sale is about 11 months. After
Valley, where there are more than 600 grape growers and over harvest, the grapes are brought to the winery for washing and
500 wine producers and blenders, many of which are small crushing. The crushing process separates the juice from the
family-owned operations. In the Napa Valley region, over 9 pulp, skin, and stems. The juice is used to make the wine;
million cases of wine are typically produced and sold annually. the pulp, skin, and stems are recycled back onto the fields
With its operation of about 4,000 cases produced each year, whenever possible or disposed of. The amount of grapes
AVS is considered to be a small winery. available for harvest and the amount of juice generated from
AVS is managed by Kay Aproveche, the founder’s daughter. the grapes is dependent each year on a number of climatic
AVS buys two types of wine grapes from the family’s grape- and growing factors such as temperature, length of growing
growing operations – a Chardonnay and a generic white grape. season, rootstock, and fertilizers used.
AVS is responsible for harvesting and processing the grapes Once the juice is extracted, it moves into the fermenting
into three types of wine that have been made by AVS since its process. The Chardonnay wine grape is fermented using oak
founding – a Chardonnay-Estate, a Chardonnay, and a Blanc barrels; the oak in the barrels gives flavor to the Chardonnay
de Blanc. AVS wines are bought by local restaurants to serve to wine. The generic white grape juices are fermented in a
their customers; every year AVS has sold all the wine that it has steel holding tank rather than in barrels. All fermenting takes
produced. In 2010, AVS earned an 11.1% profit margin on sales place in a temperature-controlled environment; however,
each fermenting method results in some wine
AVAs are wine grape-growing areas established by the Department of the
1 loss through evaporation.
Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Trade Bureau. AVAs are established
to help vintners better describe the origin of their wines. There are
currently about 200 AVAs in the United States; the Napa Valley AVA
consists of 15 AVAs, each determined by geographical boundaries.