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Our mission at ÆppelTreow (Old English for "Apple Tree") Winery is to produce wines for enjoyment every day and on special occasions. We will create a profitable business that is enjoyable to operate. Initial efforts will focus on bringing an elegant sparkling hard cider to market. Long-term goals include fruit and grape wines, and supporting vintage apple orchards, vineyards and brambleyards.

Wine sales in the United States have shifted in recent years. As overall market growth has flattened, small wineries producing wine of high quality and individual character still show strong growth. This trend is expected to continue as small producers gain better access to the distribution networks, and the large ‘microbrew’ consumer base begins to look for more choices among wine styles. Locally, the Chicago area is among the largest wine markets in the nation with about $600 million annual sales. Even locally produced wines, a neglected and disadvantaged industry, pull over $3 million a year in sales.

ÆppelTreow will distinguish itself from its competition by developing a series of hand crafted Great Lakes fruit and grape wines styled after traditional wine ‘archetypes’ - but with the twist of fruits that flourish in our climate and geology.

Charles McGonegal will be the principle operator and winemaker of ÆppelTreow Winery. Milissa McGonegal will draft artwork and assist in production and sales. Additional people will be brought on to meet specific and/or seasonal demands.

We will pursue retail sales at the winery, restaurants and boutique wine shops, as well as wholesale distribution. We will enter wines in competitions to help establish a reputation and gauge their quality and character. When possible, the wines will be professionally scored to bolster the products’ position and price. Marketing funds will be fairly restricted for the first years, so our products will have to become known by tasting sessions, word-of-mouth, competitions, an Internet Web site, and whatever other publicity can be inexpensively generated.

The ÆppelTreow Winery Business Plan contains an overview of the state of the wine industry and the broad strokes of our plans to introduce and distribute our wine. This document is a detailed review of small winery marketing practices and our specific plans. It is intended as a guide to remind us of our goals and the thoughts behind the strategies and tactics that we are pursuing.

The current state of the wine industry presents several major challenges for the small producer. A relic from the end of Prohibition – the three tiered system (producer->distributor->retailer) is a major impediment to trade outside the winery’s home state. This is because a small winery finds it especially difficult to attract and maintain the attention (and effort) of the staff of distributors. While the system is unavoidable, it may be used carefully by creating ‘pull’ from the retailer side. Also, small wineries do not need to rely solely upon the three-tier system, but may find sufficient demand from direct sales and local wholesale accounts – which do not usually need to be routed through a distributor.

Small wineries must also be mindful of a basic dichotomy in the American wine market: beverage wines vs. fine wines. The beverage wine market consists of low cost wines, is market share and volume driven (with low margins as a result) and is fiercely competitive. Fine wine is the domain of the enthusiast and connoisseur. Market growth tends to be through price increase. The dominant market pressures are to build brand equity (in consistent visual iconography and textual message) and to follow-through by delivering superior quality, stylistically distinct wines. The fine wine market is a very diverse one where smart small producers with high quality products may still carve out their own niches.

There are a number of activities that small wineries pursue to promote and deliver their wines. Advertising dollars are usually scare, so small wineries often exploit local tourism marketing. Some more public attention may be garnered through articles in the local press. Culturing personal relationships with local retail accounts is very important. Much consideration is given to food/wine pairings when approaching restaurants and grocery stores, where wines may be co-marketed with other foods during specials. Direct sales to consumers are usually more efficient than wholesale and most wineries vigorously develop tasting rooms and associated activities (catering, dinners, festivals, clubs and newsletters). Electronic commerce is being developed as well. Winery websites offer information at a minimum – actual sales are complicated by the plethora of State laws.

ÆppelTreow Winery will produce fine wines. We will always be mindful of the brand image and message we are developing and produce quality wines that exceed our brand message’s promise. We will make use of competitions, local tourism efforts and articles from local papers and journals to help promote our winery. We will focus on sales through restaurants, shops and gourmet grocery stores in the Chicagoland area, and local to the winery should it not be located in northeastern Illinois. We will hold many in-store tasting sessions. If our situation permits, we will build a tasting room and promote it to grow direct sales to consumers. We will make use of the Information Economy and develop a presence on the web for promotion of the winery (at the minimum) and direct sales when the law permits.