Savvy newcomers treat second career in wine business seriously

New York

THERE'S an old saying: If you want to make a small fortune in the wine business, start with a large one.

Many a wealthy person has discovered the axiom's truth the hard way, buying a winery with the idea of being a gentleman farmer, overseeing a picturesque and prestigious business, with the added bonus of living atop a hillside covered with vines.

Reality often intervened. The long-term capital investment, large fixed costs and delayed revenue - there are at least six years between planting vines and having a wine ready to sell - either forced the dreamer out of business or turned the enterprise into a charming but money-losing hobby.

But today's Napa and Sonoma regions, still the epicentre of US wine, are increasingly populated by a different breed of hardheaded types. They created serious wealth with their first career and have no inte…