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Wed Dec 31, 2008 1:59 pm EST

An officially licensed way to get tanked during the Winter Classic

By Greg Wyshynski

We've chronicled the wondrous relationship between hockey and wine before, and it continues with the 2009 Winter Classic. Via Ad Age, here's a completely pointless but ultimately awesome tie-in with the Detroit Red Wings/Chicago Blackhawks showdown at Wrigley Field on New Year's Day:

The league has partnered with Miner Family Vineyards, an upscale Napa winery, to produce a limited-edition red wine as a keepsake for the game. Bottles were spotted on shelves in Chicago liquor stores for about $30 a bottle. The proceeds will go to charity.

On its face, hockey wine seems a bit like opera beer. After all, watching a player pull his opponent's jersey over his head so he can throttle him blindly doesn't exactly seem like a Merlot-sipping occasion. But the league's VP-consumer products marketing, Jim Haskins, said the league's fan base is more of a wine-drinking crowd than the sport's blue-collar stereotype suggests ...

... The Winter Classic bottling is actually the latest in a series of NHL-licensed wines from Miner, which has also released bottles for the league's All Star Game and to commemorate retirements of star players. The winery's owner, Dave Miner, is a huge hockey fan, Mr. Haskins said. He was hooked up with the league by San Jose-based wine retailer Bert George, a season-ticket holder of the league's San Jose Sharks.

Anyone else a little surprised that the first Winter Classic didn't have wine? You know, considering that Sid ... nah, too easy.

There are 220 cases of Wrigley Field edition Winter Classic wine, and less than half are in Chicago. The rest went to the Joseph George wine shop and to individual teams for sale, with proceeds going to Hockey Fights Cancer and other charities. Bottles with labels are $33, and bottles with engraving and etching can fetch over $150.

The Bert George Web site offers a glimpse at other NHL-related wines, including the Mario Lemieux Retirement Bottle and a hand-painted vintage presented to Owen Nolan.

Has anyone out there had a hockey-related wine before? We actually have a bottle of screw-top red that commemorates the Carolina Hurricanes' 10th anniversary season at Puck Daddy HQ. It was purchased in the bargain bin at an Outer Banks supermarket, and then sat in a hot car for about three days. We're not really sure what to do with it.

(Not sure how many wine-drinkers we have in the readership, but Puck Daddy endorses Seven Deadly Zins and Earthquake cab from the Michael David winery in Lodi. Lethal stuff.)

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26 Comments

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  1. carl_vs_mastershake
    1. Posted by carl_vs_mastershake Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:18 pm EDT

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    Just when you think the classic couldn't get any more gimmicky....
  2. Sobu
    2. Posted by Sobu Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:31 pm EDT

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    They should have the gouda cheese, but instead of the red wax coating, it should be black with the Hawks logo on one side and the Wings logo on the other.
  3. Runnin up on ya !
    3. Posted by Runnin up on ya ! Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:47 pm EDT

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    I heard through the grape vine that Thunderbird is making a fruity blush for all the wine-o's over at The Rock. That includes the one's inside and the neighborhood constituants.
  4. Runnin up on ya !
    4. Posted by Runnin up on ya ! Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:47 pm EDT

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    Or was it Night Train !?!
  5. Bubbabanjo
    5. Posted by Bubbabanjo Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:05 pm EDT

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    Ahhhhhhhhhhh Mad-dog 20-20 with a cool label. Awesome. Man I had some bad nights as a kid drinken that witches brew.
    Wyshynski the call it Mad dog for a reason.............it stinks!
  6. Duffman
    6. Posted by Duffman Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:40 pm EDT

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    I've had wine from Gretzky's winery in the Niagara area (been to the winery too). Good stuff.
    Ray Whitney of the Carolina Hurricanes is a big wine fan. Has a huge cellar if I remember right.
    7 Deadly Zins is good.. but if you get a chance, try a Meeker or Preston Zin from the upper Dry Creek Valley (Sonoma).
    A lot of teams find themselves in great wine growing areas. San Jose of course. Vancouver, Buffalo, Toronto, Detroit to name a few.
  7. GadiS
    7. Posted by GadiS Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:02 pm EDT

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    I had some of the Winter Classic stuff. With a healthy dose of Jager (or was it Jagr?) it's pretty awesome.
  8. Gregg S
    8. Posted by Gregg S Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:12 pm EDT

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    May want to check this out.
    http://www.alumniwineseries.com/index.html
    Bobby Hull and Tony O have had a few wine signings around Chicago in the fall and I got 3-4 bottles signed by each of them. They were also very nice and signed sweaters, sticks, etc and took pictures with people. Unfortunately, I have not tried the wine yet.
  9. Wyshynski
    9. Posted by Wyshynski Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:21 pm EDT

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    @ Runnin up on ya !
    Dang, yo. Dang.
  10. Runnin up on ya !
    10. Posted by Runnin up on ya ! Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:47 pm EDT

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    @wysh
    On the real, Son.
  11. Koba
    11. Posted by Koba Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:24 pm EDT

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    Here in Russia where we actually play beautiful game and breed two headed Ovechkin-Semin monster instead of Western Sidney Crosby value meal pancake we drink real drink: Vodka, not hram-dropping wine coolers with pinky up. P.S. Thank for you Jagr, make 2009 big like Caspian oil reserve for KHL!
  12. drew_carey
    12. Posted by drew_carey Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:48 pm EDT

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    Russians (Rooshins) must like Vodka because it is like them...
    it has no taste.
    ;)
    Why drink something you've distilled all of the flavour out of?
  13. Runnin up on ya !
    13. Posted by Runnin up on ya ! Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:47 pm EDT

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    @ Koba
    Quit TYUTIN your own horn before I BURE my boot where your SATAN is.
  14. Death by Leafs
    14. Posted by Death by Leafs Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:16 pm EDT

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    Quenneville already has a couple of bottles of this stuff stashed by the zamboni paddock, and can't wait for the intermission to take those puppies for a spin.
  15. Tuo
    15. Posted by Tuo Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:27 pm EDT

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    What, no commemorative bottles for the Fresno Falcons or the Augusta Lynx? Not even one to go along with the "All You Can Eat" pack at Coyotes games?
  16. Fox
    16. Posted by Fox Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:24 pm EDT

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    Hey, look! Someone besides Ronald Reagan thinks Satan is Russian....
  17. Runnin up on ya !
    17. Posted by Runnin up on ya ! Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:47 pm EDT

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    @ fox
    slovak,lithuanian,russian,georgian. anything east of the rhine is red to me...or soon again will be if putin has his way.
    nice quip though.
  18. Commit2TheIndian
    18. Posted by Commit2TheIndian Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:27 pm EDT

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    Hey Wysh got to try "Two Buck Chuck" (not kidding), a nice little wine that goes great with a good hockey fight.
  19. garywiniecki
    19. Posted by garywiniecki Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:06 pm EDT

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    puck drops in 25 minutes. wine? cold beer for everyone! orange whip? orange whip? who wants an orange whip? commit to the indian! GO BLACKHAWKS!!
  20. Twinkie Nose
    20. Posted by Twinkie Nose Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:20 pm EDT

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    Let's get wasted and watch some hockey! GO CHICAGO!!
  21. BigLeoRocks
    21. Posted by BigLeoRocks Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:07 pm EDT

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    once again the wings show everybodt who the friggin boss is. nice try crackhawks
  22. Zenith#40
    22. Posted by Zenith#40 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:08 pm EDT

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    I'm sorry but, there is no reason that a Microbrewery could not have come up with some awesome beer for this event.
    Wine and hockey in California.... I guess.
    Wine and hockey in the midwest... Fail.
    (Good) Beer and hockey anywhere... A++
  23. David V
    23. Posted by David V Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:46 pm EDT

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    7 Deadly Zins sucks. You should try Poizin from Armida. Lightyears better
  24. MONKEY MAN
    24. Posted by MONKEY MAN Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:32 pm EDT

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    they could've issued an 'Old Style' with Tony Esposito showin' off his six-pack
  25. MJ touched hearts and kiddies private parts
    25. Posted by MJ touched hearts and kiddies private parts Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:52 pm EDT

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    I'm all in favour of getting tanked, as long as it's on an officially licenced alcholic beverage.

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