Michael Russo's Sunday Insider: Valeri Bure's grape escape

All it took was a little anesthesia to turn Valeri Bure from playmaker into winemaker.

Four years ago, after signing with the Los Angeles Kings, the "Russian (Pocket) Rocket" had back surgery, then hip surgery.

"I remember waking up in the hospital and telling Candace, 'I think I'm done,' " said Bure, the husband of actress Candace Cameron Bure and younger brother of former NHL superstar Pavel Bure. "I didn't finish my career because of my injuries. I could easily go play. I still loved the game.

"But I was lying there thinking, 'Candace wants to go back to work. My kids are young. I want to spend as much time with them as I can before they get older.' It was time to turn the page, and you know what? It was pretty easy to do."

These days, the 35-year-old Bure, who spent the majority of his career with Montreal, Calgary and Florida, spends most his time in Napa Valley. That's fitting because he's been so California-ized by Candace (currently on ABC Family's "Make It or Break It" and best known as D.J. Tanner from "Full House") that Bure barely has a hint of a Russian accent and often uses lingo like "super cool" and "super excited."

For 15 years, Bure has been a collector of wine. He has traveled France and Tuscany, and on a visit to Napa, met Josh Peeples, who has his own wine label -- Jacquelynn.

Peeples took Bure under his wing. In came famed winemaker Luc Morlet, and today, Bure has his own label, Bure Family Wines, which is produced at Chateau Boswell in St. Helena, Calif.

Last Sunday, I joined Wild TV announcers Dan Terhaar and Mike Greenlay on a tour of the cave and cellars. We saw the sorting of the grapes, the beginning stages of fermentation and the barreling, where wine will sit in 59-gallon white oak barrels for 15 to 20 months.

"Val was so excited," Peeples said. "He's like, 'Great, I'm in the wine business, but I can't sell anything for two years?'"

But in June 2008, Bure had the first public tasting, and it was a hit. He has released two cabernet sauvignons, a sauvignon blanc and next year will release another white Rhone blend and a syrah. As of now, Bure Family Wines can be found in restaurants all over California and in Atlanta, or on the website www.burefamilywines.com.

This is no gimmick. It's a true passion.

"I'm there at the harvest. I'm there for the final blending sessions," Bure said. "We'll go through 50 different blends before we come out with the perfect one, and it's perfect because it's perfect for me personally. When I put my name on it, I have to love it.

"It's not just a name on a bottle. When we do tastings, I'm the one who pours it. That excitement, that nervousness, that hard work, that discipline, all that stuff I learned from being a hockey player has led me into my next chapter of life, which is making wine. I have a good GM, a good coach and Luc is the No. 1 draft pick, the star. Without him, we stink."

Bure's great grandfather, Pavel Bure, used to make watches for the Russian tsars. The watches can still be found online starting at a few thousand dollars up to $50,000.

Valeri Bure has taken the Russian Imperial Seal his great grandfather put on every watch and modified it for his wine label. The scepter is now a hockey stick. The Orb and cross is now a Pavel Bure watch. The slaying horseman on the crest is now a "B" for "Bure."

"Understanding how to make wine takes the same precision and details my great grandfather used to make watches," Bure said. "Maybe that's why I love it so much. It's in my blood."