Wineries
Lot, vessel, bottling, removal, inventory, and TTB 5120.17 support records that may live across logs, spreadsheets, exports, and memory.
Private research for small producers and advisors
The work is done. The record trail still has to hold.
Proof & Lot is early research into a lightweight record-support system for small wineries, distilleries, and the advisors who help keep close-period records clean.
Founder-led product research. Not legal advice. No automated filing claim.
What we are trying to learn
Small producers already do careful work. The question is whether the record trail around that work becomes too fragile when close, reporting, tax, bookkeeping, or advisor review arrives.
Distilleries
Production, storage, processing, barrels/tanks, proof gallons, removals, and the monthly support trail behind the numbers.
Consultants
Client records that arrive before expert review: cleaner logs, clearer support packets, and less reconstruction before the real work begins.
One question is enough
If you do nothing else, answer this by email:
At the end of a close or reporting period, what record or number is hardest to trust without backtracking?
The optional questionnaire adds structure: what records are hardest to trust, what tools hold them today, and whether a private beta or workflow review would be useful.
A note from the builder
Hovhannes Tsakanyan
Software engineer doing founder-led research for Proof & Lot
I have been speaking with a few people around winery/distillery operations and advisory work, and I am trying to understand the recordkeeping problem before building too much.
My goal is to build a practical system that helps small producers and advisors keep a clearer support trail around lots, vessels, barrels, proof gallons, removals, inventory, and close-period records.
How this research will be used
The goal is not to sell a compliance promise. It is to decide whether a small, trustworthy ledger is worth building and what it must handle first.
Operator stories
Replies and questionnaire answers are used to identify real close-period moments, not to score or judge a business.
Anonymized patterns
Findings may be summarized without naming companies or exposing private records.
Careful artifacts
Spreadsheets, screenshots, or templates are accepted only after anonymization and explicit permission.
What Proof & Lot is not
This research is intentionally narrow. Proof & Lot is not legal advice, not an automated filing service, and not a replacement for consultants, bookkeepers, counsel, or official TTB/state guidance.
Request a workflow review
If you are open to a deeper look, share the close-period moment you would want reviewed. Do not send files yet; artifact consent comes first.
Please do not send confidential customer, employee, bank, tax ID, or account data. Anonymized files can be discussed after permission is confirmed.