Canada turns out good hockey players. But wines? Wayne Gretzky, the hockey phenom-turned coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, recently got into the wine business with Gretzky Estate Wines. Ol' number 99 is gunning for a big launch, and Aramark is bringing the '06 chardonnay and '06 merlot into the Wachovia Center's new steakhouse, Cadillac Grille. (It's open to premium seatholders.) When the Coyotes were in town earlier this week, he signed 36 bottles, which will be used in a promotion. The wines are not yet on the LCB list, so the center may be the first place in Pennsy to offer it. They're charging $12 a glass or $49 a bottle.
Haven't read any review in the big wine mags yet, but blogger HockeyDirt is only mildly impressed with the merlot, which he likens to "a useful 3rd line winger - the oenophilic equivalent of the journeyman winger - well prepared, professional, responsible but not flashy, and at $15.95 a reasonable Cap hit."