Ex-Vikings & Seahawks WR Sidney Rice Details His Wine Business And Adjusting To Life After The NFL

Former Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Sidney Rice is having success in his second career as a wine businessman.

The former Pro Bowl wide receiver is best known for emerging as Brett Favre’s favorite target as the Vikings advanced to the NFC Championship Game during the 2009 season. He eventually landed with the Seahawks, winning a Super Bowl during during his final season in 2013.

However, Rice has since found his footing as a wine entrepreneur in the state of Washington, recently opening his second wine tasting room after starting his wine company, “Dossier Wine Collective,” with his managing partner Tim Lenihan in 2021.

The 38-year-old joins a number of former athletes who have become notable investors in the booming industry of wine in the Washington state area, joining the likes of Drew Bledsoe, Dan Marino and Damon Huard.

“We’re just looking to grow,” says Rice in a one-on-one interview of his wine comany. “We started off with an idea and a huge passion for wine, but I think where we’ve gotten in the first two years has been absolutely amazing. I think our eyes are set long ways down the road. We’re in this to build this, make it a prominent brand in the state of Washington, but globally as well. We’re getting a lot of great feedback as we continue to expand and get new distributors and fly out to different places.”

Rice details that he started drinking wine as a member of the Vikings, saying that his introduction was Moscato before transitioning into other wines such as Pinot and Cabernets. However, he never envisioned during his playing career that he would become a wine entrepreneur during his post-playing career.

His resume as an entrepreneur also dates back to when he invested in the first Wing Stops in Washington.

“Not really, I had no idea,” says Rice if he had plans of starting up a wine business during his playing career. “Luckily, I was able to meet a gentleman who became a mentor and got me to invest in some franchises while I was still playing. It’s probably the best move I made. We did that, we brought the first Wing Stops to the state of Washington, which was really cool. Then after that, I really had no idea.

Rice met the right business partner in Lenihan and is looking to continue to expand “Dossier Wine Collective.” Rice details that his passion for wine grew even more during the COVID pandemic when he was looking to try something other than hard alcohol. During that time, Rice would post pics on social media of him trying wine, leading to people sending him free wine. He tried over 300 bottles during that timeframe.

That led to Lenihan hitting him up about trying better wine, which eventually led to “Dossier Wine Collective.”

“I love entrepreneurship, different opportunities, things in tech, all kinds of stuff,” Rice continues to say. “I’m wide open to learn and understand and happy I stumbled upon this and Tim convincing me to move forward with it.”

While Rice’s passion for wine obviously led to him starting his company, he wants to make it clear that this isn’t a “passion project” — it’s his business.

“I feel like we can continue to push this and grow this and be very successful in this industry with the trajectory right now,” says Rice. “I’m beyond excited about that. We’re all in on this. It’s not just something like, ‘Oh, we’re going to hop in and do a passion project.’ A lot of people call it a passion project — but it’s not. We sit down, we taste every wine.

“Tim and I decide on it direct so it’s going to go along with our winemaker and GM Brandon. I’m super excited,” Rice continues to say. “We just got our first 100-point wine review. It’s great. It’s unheard of in the second year for your first vintage of wine. I really feel like the sky’s the limit and we’re going to keep reaching for it.”

Rice enjoyed a solid seven-year career in the NFL, appearing in 81 games while posting 421 receptions for 3,592 receiving yards and 30 touchdowns. While he enjoyed living out his childhood dream, he hasn’t missed playing at all since his retirement.

“It was a great, it was a childhood dream,” says Rice. “Something I wanted to achieve and play in the NFL and I enjoyed every single moment of it. But since I retired, I haven’t missed it at all. I’m just ready for new opportunities, new exciting things and this is one of them.”

The South Carolina alum Gamecocks alum does mention that it wasn’t an easy adjustment in life after the NFL. However, he’s taken those skills and trades that he learned and is applying them in his wine business.

“No, I don’t think it’s an easy adjustment for anybody,” says Rice. “I still get calls to this day from people that are recently retired and just want to chat about where to go, what to do. A lot of people struggle with it, because it’s the only thing that you’ve done for basically the last 20 years of your life and you feel like there’s just nothing else you can do. I think the biggest thing is, as athletes I think it’s like 1% make it to the NFL — or even less. Just taking those skills and trades and applying them to what you’re doing currently.”

As far as new projects with his wine company, Rice — who mentions that Pinot is one of his favorite drinks — says that his company will bottle its first Pinot in December as he continues to grow the brand.

“We’re about to bottle our first Pinot in December, which we’re all super excited about,” says Rice. “We did a barrel tasting about eight months ago at one of our events with that Pinot and it was the topic of conversation for the whole night. It had only been in barrel for four months. Super excited about that.”

And as far as the ultimate objective moving forward for his business, Rice says it’s “building the brand.”

“We’re just building the brand,” says Rice. “We really haven’t thought where this thing is potentially going to end up, but we love where it’s going. We’re super excited and ecstatic about where it’s going and all of the great feedback that we’re getting.”