in the ‘90s, family owned wineries were able to get about 30 percent of total sales from restaurants. Into this breach stepped Andrew Browne of Precept Wines, the largest privately owned wine company in the Pacific Northwest, with over 5,000 acres of grapes planted across four western states (Australia, too!). Browne, a charismatic and confident wine salesman, was introduced by a friend to Mary Melton, beverage director of the 200-unit PF Chang's chain. The new wines quickly shot up to the top of the company sales chart. The original 4,000 cases of the custom wines quickly sold out.

Source: Forbes September 22, 2017 21:22 UTC