SAM Brown makes his living from selling wine. It means, of course, that he also gets to taste and drink a great deal of his product.

“More than 3,000 different wines so far this year,” he says.

Nice work if you can get it and millions of wine lovers would love to spend their working days doing his job. They would consider Sam lucky, but when it came to breaking into the wine industry, Sam made his own luck.

Many professionals work for established family firms, and the industry is full of second and third generation people.

Sam, by contrast, has no background in the trade. He set up in the wine business on an overnight whim with nothing more than enthusiasm and the knowledge of a keen amateur.

His self-confidence has paid off. He and his partner Charlie (short for Charlotte) run the thriving wine shop Vino Vero in Leigh.

It won the New Company prize at this month’s Echo Business Awards ceremony. Judges picked out Vino Vero’s “fast growth”, “popularity”, and its “distinctive flavour”.

Sam can identify the exact moment, to the nearest minute, when he and Charlie decided to set up in the wine business – because the moment is captured in a selfie.

He says: “It was an evening in 2012. Charlie and I had been out and enjoyed a good dinner and good wine. We’d been wondering what to do with our lives and it was then we decided we were going to work in wine. Charlie took a photo of our handshake.”

Both were living and working in London. Sam, who has a degree in mechanical engineering, was employed by a software firm. Charlie continues to work for the mental health charity Mind, but is at Vino Vero on evenings and weekends.

Wine selling  is dominated by the big supermarkets, but Sam and Charlie have carved out a niche, which allows them to compete effectively.  They source their products from smaller vineyards and other suppliers across Europe and California.

By dealing with smaller growers, Sam and Charlie are able to keep their prices competitive, and also introduce freshness and vitality into their range of products.

The other great asset is Leigh. Sam and Charlie moved back to their home town from London.

Sam says: “Leigh is full of small individual, independent businesses. It also has a lot of commuters, who are exposed, as we were, to drinking good wine in London, and are prepared to seek out interesting wines locally.”

His advice to anyone hoping to enter the wine trade is get qualified, and “do all the courses you can”. He and Charlie have gained distinctions in Master of Wine courses.

Sam says: “It makes a difference when people find you are properly qualified. They then trust you to give them good advice.”

Sam’s current tip: Beaujolais Jean Feuillard 2005.