We knew Rory McIlroy could talk birdies and bogeys. Turns out he’s also a pro when it comes to Burgundy and Bordeaux.
That much became clear Wednesday when McIlroy revealed his menu for the Masters Champions Dinner that he will host in the Augusta National clubhouse next month. His offerings include wagyu filet mignon, yellowfin tuna carpaccio and peach and ricotta flatbread, but the real showstopper is what McIlroy will be pouring.
“I wanted to be really intentional with the wines,” he told reporters. “It’s something that I’m really into and passionate about and started to collect wine, probably over the past decade. To work with the sommeliers at the club and be able to choose these wines was a lot of fun.”
For more intel on McIlroy’s picks, we consulted veteran sommelier Harley Carbery, who is the corporate beverage director at Station Casinos in Las Vegas and has a “certified” level of qualification from the Court of Master Sommeliers. Carbery said that while McIlroy’s wine choices reflect the fact that he’s enjoyed the finer things in life, he also has “done his homework” on vintages and producers.
“Someone online posted the top 10 [Champions Dinner] menus recently and no one has come close to this lineup with wines,” Carbery said. “To me, there was more of a focus on the wine than the food.”
Carbery would know, because he has tasted each of the wines McIlroy chose for his Tuesday dinner: Salon Cuvee “S”, Brut; 2022 Domaine Laflaive, Batard-Montrachet; 1990 Chateau Lafite Rothschild; and 2022 Domaine Laflaive Batard-Montrachet.
“These are some of the best wines there are, period,” Carbery said. “You ask any wine collector or sommelier or anyone who has been in the wine business for a while, you see those brands and you’re going to be saying, ‘wow.’
“Vintage-wise he went for some pretty heavy hitters. Everything is there to impress but also if you are a wine drinker and can afford the best things in life those are things you’re going to gravitate towards.”
Carbery has been to Augusta National three times — in 2018, 2022 and 2024 and is likely heading back again next month — and knows all the lore about the club’s epic wine cellar. As a wine professional, he says, it would be “a dream” to visit.
But in this space, we’ve charged him with a different mission: uncorking each of McIlroy’s selections.
Salon Cuvee “S”, Brut (approx. cost at retail $1,200)
Carbery points to the Champagne as a perfect example of McIlroy digging deep for a choice that would impress even someone as qualified as Carbery, who says the most expensive bottle of wine he’s ever sold at a restaurant was a 1947 Cheval Blanc, with a price tag of $35,000.
McIlroy’s 2015 Salon S from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger is almost an “if-you-know-you-know” kind of vintage.
“Ask any sommelier and this would be their favourite; it’s exceptional,” Carbery says. “They don’t make a ton of it. It’s very hard to get. Whenever I’ve had the chance to try it — it’s a special moment. It’s that fantastic.”
2022 Domaine Laflaive Batard-Montrachet ($1,800)
McIlroy’s white wine pick is a special one to him as he said it was the first white wine he actually liked. It comes from one of the world’s top chardonnay producers, Carbery said, and given they produce only a small amount each year, it sells out instantly upon release.
“It’s almost a perfect example of white burgundy,” Carbery says.
1990 Chateau Lafite Rothschild ($1,100)
Pivoting to the red, 1990 was an “amazing” year for Bordeaux with everything working out well at the vineyards, Carbery said. That led to “great juice in the bottle,” Carbery said, and even though this wine is 36 years old, it’s in the perfect spot for drinking. Everything comes together like when you’re making a stew at home — it just gets better with more time, Carbery says.
The Chateau Lafite Rothschild also has personal meaning to McIlroy; it’s the same red he drank the night he won the Masters when Shane Lowry gifted him a case of it. But it’s generally praised among wine professionals, too.
“Rothschild is what they call a top ‘first growth’ in Bordeaux and it commands a lot of money with just the name and quality because it’s unbelievable,” Carbery says. “No matter who is drinking it, when you see a bottle of that, you’re drinking something special.”
1989 Chateau d’Yquem ($530)
McIlroy’s finale comes from his birth year, a 1989 Chateau d’Yquem. It’s a dessert wine that McIlroy described as “liquid gold.” While this wine isn’t for everybody, Carbery said this vintage feels like syrup in your mouth with the acid balancing out the sweetness. This wine can age for centuries because it comes from moldy grapes (yes, really) or pourriture noble, the English translation being “noble rot.”
“It’s hard to manage because it is a [living] thing,” Carbery said. “What comes from it is liquid gold. It’s decadent, unique, delicious. With all the dessert wines, this would be at the top of the list.”
Carbery, who spent more than six years as the director of wine at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, said if you were to order all of these bottles at a restaurant it would cost you, in total, about $13,000. A hefty bill before you even order any food. But your night, as McIlroy’s dinner guests are about to find out, would be one to remember.
“The food,” Carbery says of McIlroy’s menu, “was selected to let the wines be the star.”
