Bure: Going virtual

MONTREAL - Jeff and Julie Petry recently welcomed a former Hab into their Michigan home… virtually, that is.

The couple partook in a Zoom-based wine tasting session last Saturday night led by none other than Valeri Bure, who runs Bure Family Wines in St. Helena, CA.
Bure was looking for a new way to connect with his client base amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and he elected to give video conferencing a try.
The 45-year-old Moscow native shipped three different bottles of wine to 100 of his top clients and encouraged them to join him online for the unique gathering.
The Petrys just happened to be one of 70 respondents who accepted the invitation.
"I basically said to them, "It's a gift to you from us. Let's raise a glass on Saturday." My goal was to kind of help people forget about what's going on and just enjoy some family time and some wine," explained Bure. "I told some stories, we went over the wines together, and I answered questions. I just wanted to do something to help, and that's how this whole thing came together. It was all about hanging out with our friends and clients."

Bure first became interested in wine during his playing days with the Canadiens in the mid-to-late '90s.
Vincent Damphousse, Martin Rucinsky, Brian Savage and Vladimir Malakhov were several teammates who shared their knowledge with him over the years.
And head equipment manager Pierre Gervais was an influential figure in opening Bure's eyes to his future profession, too.
"I started my love for wine in Montreal with all of the boys inviting me for dinner, introducing me to all the wines. I bought a little fridge, then a bigger fridge, a walk-in fridge, and now it's in barrels," said Bure, who also played for Calgary, Florida, St. Louis and Dallas before hanging up his skates at age 31 and switching fields. "It's not like I thought I'd be finished playing hockey so young. I thought I still had a lot of years to come, but the injuries were too much. But like a lot of hockey players, I was just loving wine. I studied and researched. My love for wine has never changed. I'm just gaining more knowledge and more passion, like the little babies that come from the vines, the brand new shoots, there's so much excitement in that. Now I have a different appreciation for wine, but I still remember how I started."

Even though Bure calls Southern California home, he spends the majority of his time upstate in Napa County focusing on winery operations with the help of his 20-year-old son, Lev.
The pair has been working side-by-side for the last year while Lev pursues an online degree at Liberty University.
"Personally, I love working in the vineyards and learning about how wine reacts in different barrels, for example. He's more on the business side. He loves numbers, coming up with ideas, and interacting with people," mentioned Bure, a father of three with his wife - actress, producer, author, and talk show panelist - Candace Cameron. "But Lev's with me 100 percent. We're travelling together and having a lot of fun."

Connection with Petry
Like Bure, Petry is a wine enthusiast himself.
He recalls learning the basics from teammates in Edmonton at the outset of his NHL career.
But a trip to Napa Valley during the mid-season Olympic break in 2010 made things click. It was the first of three trips the 32-year-old veteran defenseman has made to the region to date.
"That's when I think it really started, when you're actually in wine country," confirmed Petry. "Just sitting and talking with the owners and the winemakers, learning about it and seeing their passion, it's something I really enjoy and something post-hockey I'd have an interest in pursuing in some way."

It was during the second of the aforementioned three trips that Petry made his lone visit to Bure Family Wines, but Valeri wasn't on-site.
The pair hasn't met in person, but a get-together is likely on the horizon at some point in the near future.
In the meantime, Petry is spending a portion of the NHL pause organizing his immense wine room - which is capable of storing over 1,000 bottles - with the help of the CellarTracker app.
And he's hoping to further educate himself on the subject as well.

"I'm just scratching the surface, especially when you talk to people who've been in it for so long. They have so much knowledge. I'll listen to people talking about it, and I'll read some magazines or different reviews and different articles just to start to learn more," explained Petry. "I'll also log on and listen to more virtual tastings. It's kind of like going to school. I actually thought about trying to find an online wine class I could take, whether it's reading material or video seminars."
The Michigan State University grad is clearly committed to immersing himself in the wine industry in some capacity down the road.
He already told a buddy in Napa Valley that he's ready to get down to work after retirement.
"I was like, "When I'm done playing, I'd love to come out during harvest and just watch and see what it's like." I would love to get my hands dirty," concluded Petry.