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{ SOMMjournal.com } 45 M ike Howard is sporting a wide grin and we can see why. The Arkansas-born, Texas-based entrepreneur is launching more projects than a rocket engineer. We saw the results this past year with his must-taste bour- bon, J. R. Ewing, named for the notorious character on the TV show Dallas. The brand is being taken seriously across the country as its flavor profile is richly rewarding and praised by seri- ous spirits specialists. "We are a developer of brands," admits Howard, who flew to Los Angeles to meet with us, along with Cameron Hughes, a trusted associate who knows how to source good fruit. "I think Prairie Creek has had a successful start because of good dis- tributor partners and solid team members. I have learned from my experiences, especially the mistakes." Armed with a lean but professional sales force, Prairie Creek Beverages has emerged in 2014 as one to watch, now covering 32 states. "My passion is about working through a concept that develops into a reality," he tells THE SOMM Journal. "Seeing our wines and spirits on the shelves and, most impor tantly, someone purchasing it, that's a real pleasure. It's as simple as taking something from point A to point B, which is not easy in our industry." Howard's successes are as frequent as his ideas. Manuscript Cellars, for example, is a wine brand that engages retailers and consumers with nod to writing and storytelling; it's most suc- cessful promotion is a coupon hang-tag resembling a bookmark that offers four dollars off the price of a favored "publication." Based on that success, Howard launched Top Spin Wines, which plays to the tennis crowd (the tagline is "Relax Your Grip") and is marketed especially to clubhouse consumers. "We are starting to see some exciting progress with both wine brands in retail and on-premise segments," Howard claims. With a penchant to find the right match of brands for celebri- ties, Howard came across the Matchmaker herself: Patti Stanger, star of Bravo TV's hit reality show The Millionaire Matchmaker. Stanger is a straight-talker who sets men and women on the path to meet the moneyed persons of their dreams. "Prairie Creek has consulted with agents and managers for high-profile celebrities," notes Howard. "We advise on struc- turing brands, strategizing campaigns, marketing concepts and facilitate meetings with brand owners and celebs. With that, through the Todd Shemerya Agency, we were introduced to Patti. Coincidentally, Patti is a friend of Bennett Glazer and Shelley Stein [of Glazer's Distributors], so there was a distribu- tor reference as well." Originally, Patti wanted to create a brand called Kissalicious, a line of low-calorie RTDs. Howard talked her out of it. "I told her that the market for these items was a difficult path—too \ \ PHOTO: ADAM JAMES P.S. Match Red (SRP $10) is a Dolce Rosso, or sweet red blend, from Italy. Millionaire Matchmaker Patti Stanger. "In making P.S. Match wines, we often go through four to six rounds of tasting before we get the right blend," she explains "It is a really fascinating process to be a part of. And—just as perfumes are crafted in layers—in wine there are top, middle and bottom notes that you look for in a final blend." PHOTO: COURTESY OF PRAIRIE CREEK BEVERAGES