Evander Kane. Power forward. Fashion maven. And, now, wine master.
Dovetail, a new limited-edition cabernet sauvignon, was launched last week at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald. The wine, a collaboration between the Edmonton Oilers’ winger and Calgary’s City & Country Winery, is made with grapes from Lodi, California.
“It’s obviously a unique thing, as a professional athlete,” Kane said of having his own wine. “But you are seeing more and more and more athletes getting into businesses outside of their sports, for me, I thought it was a great opportunity.
“I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I’m a wine specialist, because I’m not. We were going through the tastings, and we were trying different grapes and formulating the wine. Chris and I, and obviously the friends and family who helped us with it, are very satisfied with the final product.”
“Chris” is Chris Fodor, the owner of City & Country.
“We just started throwing ideas around, coming up with blends, and came up with the wine,” said Fodor. “It sounds simple, but it is that simple for wine guys — as easy as it is to score a hat trick for some hockey players.”
When Kane and Fodor met, the winger talked about the wines he likes, his favourite labels and grapes, to create a road map for Dovetail.
Fodor and Kane know that celebrity wines have a reputation for, well, not being very good. But Dovetail (the writer of this piece may have enjoyed a glass or three) has a jammy beginning, but immediately mellows out. There’s very little, if any, acidic back end to the quaff.
“To me, this is a wine that’s incredibly easy to drink,” said Kane. “ It’s a big, bold wine, but I find it very easy to drink, and that’s something I like when I’m drinking wine. It’s not overpowering with the fruitiness, it’s not incredibly dry, it’s a perfect happy medium. You can drink it with anything — a nice filet mignon or if you’re barbecuing a couple of hotdogs and watching the Oilers game.”
“We only put in the bottle what we want to drink,” said Fodor. “We’re not a basic entry-level wine brand. We want to have wines that are low in sugar, full in flavour, no added sugars, colours or flavours.”
A portion of the proceeds are earmarked for the Kids With Cancer Society. Kane said he made it clear to City & Country owner Chris Fodor that the charitable component was very important to him.
“I’ve gotten to know a lot of great kids who have battled cancer, and those who continue to fight against cancer. Myself, I’ve spent a decent amount of time at the Kids With Cancer house, whether it’s just fooling around and playing with some of the kids, or playing video games.”
Kane is behind Defy, a clothing brand which, according to the company’s launch material, got its name from the struggles Black hockey players face when trying to make it in the game.
“Time after time I was told I could never make it, and once I did, my presence fueled hate,” Kane wrote when Defy was launched in 2023. “ Many have tried to bring me, and other players that look like me, down — but it didn’t matter.”
So, with Defy and now Dovetail, what will Kane do next?
“I’m not sure. When you get to a certain age, you realize you’ve got to have lots going on. You want to have other ventures outside of what you do for a living. For me, I’m always open to listening to new opportunities, and I think there will be some exciting stuff coming up in the near future.”
