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Frog's Leap Winery in 2011- The Sustainability Agenda [Case and Video] Armand Gilinsky, fr., Sonoma State University There's an old saying in the wine industry that goes, "In order to make a small fortune you need to start out with a large one." Unfortunately, I'd never heard of that "rule" before I started out. I came here to the Napa Valley 27 years ago with $40 in my pocket, sold my motorcycle for $5,000 to start a winery, and now lowe $22 million ( requires large capital) to the bank. And I still haven't been able to buy back my motorcycle, because the current loan covenants with the bank do not permit me to ride, so I'm not sure that I am a success story, really. -John Williams, founder & CEO, Frog's Leap Winery.' P rom the autumn of 1999 to late spring 2011, most Napa Valley premium wineries were embracing modernity-launching websites, using viral marketing, develop ing wine clubs, and shifting distribution channels from on-premises accounts to direct sales. John Williams, the co-founder, owner, and CEO/winemaker of Frog's Leap Winery in Rutherford, California, had followed suit by making modest invest ments in these marketing programs. Williams nevertheless remained skeptical that these changes would dictate his winery's future. In May 2011, Williams reflected upon his heritage as the son of upstate New York dairy farmers and his 35 years' working in the wine industry, since graduation from Cornell University. Williams not only displayed his normally irreverent humor, but also acknowledged that he had quietly developed the industry's most sophisticated environmental management system.2 Environmental management systems (EMS) had risen in importance for wine businesses, as they con fronted survival threats from the natural world, such as rising energy prices, water scarcity, mounting concerns about chemical exposure, and climate change.3 Yet Williams won dered aloud: "How ...