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The Pro's MerlotsDate: 01/06/2005 Beyond that, professional golfers' names also resonate with exactly the demographic North American wine retailers are trying to reach." Greg Norman puts his name on a nice shirt," says PGA Tour veteran David Frost, whose own label initiated the golfers' wine trend when it debuted in 1997. "Why not wine?" So it shouldn't be surprising that a number of current and former PGATour players - six at last count, from five different countries - have launched their own wines in the U.S. or Canadian market: Norman Frost, Arnold Palmer, Mike Weir, Ernie Els, and Nick Faldo. The Tour itself has even branded a line of wines (one priced as high as $60), a daring line extension that veers dangerously close to the elitist image the sport has tried so hard to overcome. Still; business is business. "There are 16,900 golf courses in America, and every one of them has a restaurant and bar," says Steve Bisceglia of Bermuda Triangle Ventures, which is making and supplying the PGA Tour's wines. "I think people will look at the PGA [Tour] logo and at least give the wines a shot." So which golfers' wines are actually worth drinking and which are simply marketing gimmicks? I convened a panel of prominent tasters earlier this year to try them all and find out. Tucson-based Laura Williamson completed a rigorous training and testing process to become one of only 120 members of the worldwide Court of Master Sommeliers. Randa Warren is a certified wine educator who consults with various wine shops and restaurants from her Tulsa home. Frenchborn Karim Boulet is the sommelier and wine buyer at The Kitchen in Boulder, Colorado. And I'm a contributing editor for Wine Spectator. Together, we uncorked, sniffed, swirled and drank every commercially available wine with a golfer's name attached that we could find. (The PGA Tour wines won't be available until later this year.) We ranked each on a five-star scale, with no stars signifying a wine that should not be drunk by anyone at any time, and five stars for a wine that can hang with any in the world. As expected, some of the bottles we uncorked wouldn't be worth mentioning if not for the name on their label. But others-notably the Ernie Els Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend from South Africa and Nick Faldo's Australian Shiraz - are serious wines for discriminating drinkers. The Els wine, with a price tag nipping at $100, is made in a style that will reward further aging and is likely to appeal to drinkers and collectors who have little interest in golf. Els's wine is the most expensive ever released from South Africa, which has been turning out world-class golfers far longer than world-class wines. With no Italian or French players ranked among the PGA Tours best, it isn't surprising that those ardent wine-consuming nations remain unrepresented. The next frontier may well be Spain, the most prominent intersection of golf and wine not yet represented in the marketplace. If these golfers'wines prove successful, enterprising businessmen might do well to call Sergio Garcia's people and see if he likes a good Rioja ERNIE ELS - Bruce Schoenfeld |
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WINE AND GOLF aren't an obvious pairing. Unlike, say, beer and poker. You don't often see a golfer stop off after ninth hole for a swig of Syrah. Yet wine has been prominently featured at 19th Holes for centuries, and the collections slumbering in the dank cellars of some of Britain's top private clubs rank among the most valuable in the world. These days, professional golfers are worldly enough to appreciate superior bottles of wine and affluent enough to accumulate formidable cellars of their own. Several top golfers, notably Frank Nobilo, Duffy Waldorf, and Jeff Sluman, are avid and knowledgeable collectors. 
