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Living Legend By Lawson McKenzie The Grape One |
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Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player of all time, a very good coach, and now a respected winemaker. He owns almost every significant individual scoring mark in the NHL record book, but you might not have known that The Great One is also the owner of Wayne Gretzky Estates Winery, which is producing some wonderful reds and whites in the Niagara Peninsula of Canada. Between coaching the Coyotes, family obligations and the extensive portfolio of business opportunities that Wayne is involved in, he is literally one of the busiest people on the planet – but wine is something he’s enjoyed for years, and his winery is receiving some great accolades from people in the industry. "I enjoy drinking wine," Gretzky told POST. "But by no means would I call myself a connoisseur. I do enjoy wine, though, and now that I am in the business, I’m learning a great deal. And who knows, someday I may become a connoisseur." The Wayne Gretzky brand is one of the more valuable in sports, so if he is going to attach his name to something, there is no room for it to be anything but a superior product. And that is certainly the case with Wayne’s wine. "From day one, I stressed that the wine had to be good quality – I was only getting into the business if we could produce quality wines. I, like a lot of people, enjoy a good quality wine, and I think we were able to achieve that with both our Merlot and Chardonnay while keeping both at a very reasonable price point." Over the last few months, Wayne has been a little preoccupied trying to ensure a springtime whiteout at Jobing.com Arena, so the wine operations are handled by people he trusts. "I wouldn’t say I am day-to-day with the company. I do spend a fair amount of time on the project, and I do sit in on taste testing and cast my vote accordingly." The NHL world is a tight-knit community, and even though it’s a rough game played by tough guys, you would be surprised at how many players enjoy wine and are probably a lot more refined than you might think. And since Wayne is still the biggest living legend in Canada, and the majority of players in the NFL come from the Great White North, he’s going to move a lot of product simply by having his name on the label. "Players on my team as well as players around the NHL have all been buying my wine. I have been getting great feedback from the NHL community," Wayne said. A legendary athlete branching off into the world of wine is not unprecedented. Greg Norman has made millions with his custom-made line of Australian wines, and The Great One knows he could learn a thing or two from the worldwide success of the Great White Shark and his wine estates. "I personally did not speak to Greg about my wine venture, but my business people have communicated with his people extensively. Greg has done a great job marketing his product, and I think we can learn a lot from their success." Of course, what makes a living legend like Wayne Gretzky special is he does not have to open a winery to add to his net worth. He’s going to take on a venture like this to provide quality and benefit less the less fortunate. "While I'm pleased with the quality of all the vintages we produce at Wayne Gretzky Estates, I'm most proud of the fact that they were created in the service of the Wayne Gretzky Foundation: 100% of net proceeds from the sale of this wine will be donated to the foundation. This means that with every bottle you enjoy, less-fortunate kids will be able to participate in the passion of playing, watching and learning from the world's best game." Wayne Gretzky Estates Winery is producing a Chardonnay and Merlot right now, which you can learn more about at their Website, www.gretzkyestatewines.com and purchase for your enjoyment at www.thecuvee.com There may come a time, however, if Wayne continues to get the Coyotes to improve, that he may have to start cranking out a champagne that can be used in the locker room after a playoff series win. "We have talked about doing a sparkling wine at some point. As for the celebration part, whether or not we have it launched when we win a few playoff series, let me just say I sure hope we have that problem someday!" |
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