Mike Quigley, Cook County Commissioner, 10th District

Just checking: Hockey wines put to test; Beer-loving NHL fans targeted with 12-bottle set

Chicago Sun-Times

April 2, 2008

By James Scalzitti

Cold Steel on Ice. Remember the Roar. Red Rising. These words make Chicago hockey fans' hairs stand on end and hearts beat faster.

"A charming Chardonnay, with hints of apple ... a bit buttery" -- not so much.

As recreational hockey player (and Cook County Commissioner) Mike Quigley puts it, after a game, "You don't say to the guys, 'Hey, let's go have a Chablis.'"

But things might be changing. The NHL Alumni Association has rolled out a Signature Wine Series, a 12-bottle collection -- six Chardonnays, six Cabernet Sauvignons -- featuring the likeness of some of hockey's greatest players.

In Chicago, the two wines, produced by Ironstone Vineyards of Murphys, Calif., are Bobby Hull's "Golden Jet" 2007 Chardonnay and Tony Esposito's "Tony O" 2005 Cabernet. The wines are sold at Binny's and in the United Center's restaurants and suites.

Portions of the proceeds of each bottle sold go to each player's charity of choice (the Make-A-Wish Foundation for Hull, Cougars Selects Youth Hockey for Esposito), as well as each team's alumni association and the NHL Alumni Association's charitable efforts.

To get an idea of how these wines might fare with the hockey crowd, as well as with serious wine drinkers, we assembled a panel of tasters: Quigley, Johnny's Ice House owner Tom Moro, CBS-Ch. 2 news anchor Rob Johnson (whose company bio lists hockey and wine tasting as two of his off-air passions) and Sun-Times sports columnist Carol Slezak.

As Johnson demonstrated proper wine tasting technique to the rest of the panel, he said that another sports-related wine, Mike Ditka's Kick Ass Red, "really does kick ass." But, he noted, it costs $50 a bottle.

At $15 a bottle, the NHL wines are "solid, legitimate wines," Johnson said.

Quigley said it was a wise move for the hockey world to expand its demographic reach by making hockey-related wine. Though beer is enormously popular among sports fans, "wine should have its day as well," he said.

Those demographics already might be changing. Fans in the United Center's pricier seats and luxury boxes can order wine from waiters. The old Chicago Stadium "[smelled] of 70 years of beer that had embedded itself in the concrete," Quigley recalled almost wistfully.

Tastes change as people get older, Slezak noted. Women especially "might not want to guzzle a 12-pack" while watching a game, she said.

"I think there is a market" for this wine, she said.

Moro stocks small bottles of wine in the upper level bar at Johnny's. During the youth hockey season, parents love being able to have a glass of wine in the bar while watching their kids play, he says.

So might these wines supplant beer as the go-to drink among hockey folk?

Maybe not, but, Moro says, "If I was to go out to dinner with my wife after a game, of course I'd drink it."

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