FUN FACT

Here’s a surprising statistic:
70% of the 250 million cases of wine sold in the U.S. is controlled by families. This is an estimate by David Freed, chairman of Napa-based wine industry financer The UCC Group, quoted in the North Bay Business Journal report, “Wine Industry in midst of new wave of buyouts” (Jeff Quackenbush, Oct. 15, 2007).  What makes that percentage so large? The huge wine mega-business, Constellation Brands, is family operated.