You may not know it at first, but wine-making requires many of the same skills as playing hockey. Perhaps that’s why a fair number of former hockey players have found themselves in the wine-making business upon hanging up the skates – NHL alumni, Val Bure, Jim Fox, Wayne Gretzky, Igor Larionov and Zenon Knopka are just a few.
Bure started becoming interested in wine at the age of 19, while playing for the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal has its share of excellent food and wine establishments, and that’s where Bure’s wine career really began.
“I went from not having any wine bottles in my house to having two or three, to a little fridge, to a bigger fridge, to a walk-in,” says Bure about the evolution of his affinity for wine.