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Apparently, there is a lot more going on with golf than whacking a tiny ball a couple of hundred yards into a small cup. For one thing, there’s a growing association of golf with wine. Many professional golfers have lent their names to wine labels, possibly figuring that amateur duffers might need a glass of wine after exploring the rough and missing par on most holes.
Pro golfers with their own wine labels include Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, Mike Weir and at least three South Africans–David Frost, Ernie Els and Gary Player. Now a top- ranked young British golfer, Luke Donald, is joining their ranks.
His first attempt at wine creation, the Luke Donald 2005 Napa Valley Collection, a claret, is so good that it’s like beating Tiger Woods during your rookie professional tournament. This delicious wine offers a perfect, slightly musky aroma. Its amazing taste combines an initial smooth blend with a later, larger, more and an even better wine with food.
Donald prefers to call it a “claret” because that’s the British word for Bordeaux blends. Also, from a golfer’s point of view, the Claret Jug is awarded to the winner of the British Open, something Donald hopes to acquire. Perhaps a jug of his claret could lead to the Claret Jug.
Luke Donald’s association with wine began with golf, specifically when he was attending Northwestern University on a golf scholarship. Bill Terlato, now president and CEO of Terlato Wines International, was taking golf lessons from Luke Donald’s coach. Luke and Bill became golf buddies: Luke helped Bill’s game; Bill conducted impromptu wine seminars for Luke.
Years passed, the conversations and the golf games continued. Meanwhile, Donald turned professional in 2001 and earned more than $1 million that first year. His lifetime earnings are now over $11 million.
Then Bill Terlato took over most management duties from his father, the legendary Tony Terlato, who introduced Pinot Grigio to American consumers. The Terlato Wine Group’s income has been doubling every five years. In America, the company sells one in eight wines costing more than $14. Although it’s a family corporation and exact figures are not revealed, one estimate put annual sales at over $250,000,000 a year.
Although Terlato makes wine with golfer Ernie Els, it was not searching for celebrity wine endorsements. Quality, rather than mere name value, is the company’s most important consideration.
Terlato also wanted to create wines that would appeal to younger sippers. A recent survey indicated that the so-called millennial generation (age 21-30) buys the more expensive wines (over $16 a bottle) at a rate of two and a half times the national average. These are the people who grew up wanting $125 sneakers and now some have disposable income.
Luke Donald’s high-end endorsements included Royal Bank of Scotland, Rolex and Polo Ralph Lauren. But he had no relationship with a wine company until he and his agent asked Bill Terlato for advice.
Terlato told me, “We wanted Luke involved in its development. After two days of tasting, we came up with what finally reflected his personal style and taste.”
Luke Donald said, “The tasting was an overwhelming experience. We were blending six different wines. It’s like playing chemistry with 100 glasses in front of you.
“I remember thinking this could take a while. Then we got it down to two possibilities and we broke for lunch. The wines tasted differently with the risotto and that determined the final choice.”
For Luke Donald, a wine with his name on the bottle will not make him rich, but it does give him satisfaction. He said, “At the moment, this is a nice thing to do away from golf.”
He will be away from golf a lot more than he wants in the next few months. In June, Donald popped a tendon in his left wrist, suffering a “subluxation of the Extensor Carpi Ulnaris (ECU) tendon.” This forced him to withdraw from the PGA tour and from the British Ryder Cup team, which he led to victories in 2004 and 2006. In August, the same New York doctor who cured the wrist problems of baseball player Jason Giambi and professional golfer Jim Furyk successfully operated on Donald, who hopes to return to golf after rehabilitation.
Donald told me, “It’s gratifying to hear that you opened a bottle and enjoyed it.”
I did. The Luke Donald Collection, with only 1100 cases produced this year, is a fine $40 red wine available at www.worldsgreatestwines.com.
Next year, Luke Donald wines will offer more claret and a Chardonnay, while he works his golf game back into championship form.
Credits
by Norman Mark
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