In Vino Golfitas

To me and many other PGA Tour pros, golf and wine go together like, well, food and wine.

By Greg Norman

Years ago, when you leafed through the PGA Tour media guide, you'd invariably see hunting or fishing listed as recreational pursuits enjoyed by professional golfers. You still see some of that, but today you're also likely to find wine appreciation tucked somewhere in there.

I guess it's no surprise that more of us are getting involved. One of the perks of golf's global reach is that Tour pros now travel the world and experience cultural splendors that we might otherwise have missed, including many great local cuisines. With that comes the prospect of sampling wines from some of the best viticulture regions in the world. My travels have taken me to some amazing vineyards in South Africa, Spain, France, Canada, California and, of course, my native Australia.

For some players, the appreciation has grown beyond that of consumer. Jeff Sluman and Duffy Waldorf are known for their extensive collections. Ernie Els parlayed his knowledge into his own line of successful wines. David Frost and his brother own a vineyard in a beautiful wine region in Paarl, South Africa. And not surprisingly, some of us are just as competitive in the vineyard as we are inside the ropes.

I liken the wine business to another one of my passions, golf course design. In design, there are those who have a dedicated, hands-on approach, who invest considerable time and effort and have their own staffs. And then there are those who simply serve as consultants. The wine business has many parallels. Some players are very involved in the process, while others are more like endorsers, just adding their names to labels. And, like golf, wine making takes incredible focus, as well as years of practice, experience and wisdom. I'm a relative newcomer to the process, but it's something that I care deeply about and have applied myself to, and I hope this shows in my wines.

My journey into the world of wine really started during my first trip to the United States, in the fall of 1976, when I was chosen to represent my country in the World Cup of Golf in Palm Springs, California. I didn't even own a passport at the time because I had never been outside of Australia. I remember when I entered my hotel room; it was the most palatial setup I had ever seen, a far cry from the tiny motel rooms I had shared on the Australian Tour just a few weeks earlier. I was given a courtesy car to use that week, and it was the first time I drove on the "other" side of the road. The transition was not accomplished without several hair-raising moments, but I managed to get to and from the course without denting the vehicle.

My introduction to the American golf scene left a strong impression on me. Instead of returning to Australia for Christmas, as I had originally planned, I stayed in California for nearly six weeks as the guest of George Kelly, an American professional I'd met in Australia earlier in the year. I spent Christmas with George and his family, and we played many of the classic courses on the Monterey Peninsula. I stuck around long enough to see my first Super Bowl and returned to Australia a couple days later. That holiday helped broaden my outlook in many ways. We made it a point to dine in some of California's boutique restaurants. They had some very impressive wine lists, and it was then that I was introduced to several of the state's finer chardonnays. Three in particular still come immediately to mind: Stags' Leap, Kistler Vineyards and Trefethen. George and I also traveled to San Francisco to play Olympic Club and made a point to visit several Napa Valley vineyards while in the area.

My palate expanded several years later when Laura--my wife-to-be at the time--and I dined in a Parisian cellar restaurant on Ile Saint-Louis. It really helped connect us, because the two of us didn't realize at the time that we each had an affinity for wine. From that point, our appreciation and interest grew in earnest.

Less than a year later, I remember being truly awestruck on my first visit to Augusta National. It was the second week of April, 1981--my first major championship on U.S. soil--and the magnitude of the event, the beauty of the course, the history and the pageantry all were impressive. But I was equally enthralled by a visit to the Augusta National wine cellar. I was expecting opulence and extravagance, but what I found was quite the opposite. In the back of the trophy room is a small staircase that leads to an unpretentious yet marvelous display. In my opinion, it's the embodiment of a great wine cellar, with the focus on content and substance rather than aesthetics. It contains a fascinating selection of wine from all over the world solely for members. Part of the mystique is that prominent people have bequeathed bottles to the club with the understanding that they be restricted to the members and that the prices remain affordable.

A few years later, I visited the home winery of Penfolds Grange, one of Australia's most famous red wines. There, I asked a wine maker about foods best suited to a certain vintage, expecting him to suggest beef or lamb. Instead, he said that a pizza would best bring out the wine's true nature. I kid you not. The pizza flavors accelerate and react with the tannins in the wine, he explained, enhancing the overall taste.

Interestingly, Penfolds Grange has a unique story of its own. At its inception in 1951, "Hermitage" was part of the name--Hermitage being one of the most famous of all Rhone Valley, France, appellations. Penfolds Grange, however, was produced in southern Australia. Much like "champagne" became an accepted colloquial descriptor for sparkling wine, "Hermitage" had accompanied Penfolds Grange for four decades. But eventually trademark regulation forced the removal of "Hermitage" from the label of Australia's most successful winery. Nonetheless, Grange remains an Australian icon. In fact, in 1995 Wine Spectator named the 1990 vintage the number-one wine in the world.

These days, when Laura and I are home together, we make it a point to sample a bottle almost every night. We have twenty-five to forty different varietals in our cellar. I don't have a real preference, red or white, but like most people we tend to match our wines with our meals. We enjoy trying new and different wines, and after many years of experimenting I have come to understand the characteristics that I most enjoy. I'm especially fond of California chardonnays, but nearest to my heart and palate are the wines of Australia.

In the late 1990s, I recognized that U.S. consumers had an affinity for Australian wines but were largely uneducated about them. Few Americans could distinguish Australian regions and varietals, let alone the brands. Clearly, the U.S. consumer needed some direction. I became intrigued with the idea of getting involved in the business and set out to find the right partner.

I had long admired the work of Australian wine makers Chris Hatcher, Andrew Hales and Matt Steel, so first and foremost I sought out a partnership with them. The four of us found that we shared the same unpretentious view of wine, and Greg Norman Estates was born. We have created what we believe are distinctive products, and our success is truly the result of our great partnership. Moreover, I am proud, as an Australian, to have taken our wines into new markets, such as the United States.

The response to Greg Norman Estates has been tremendous, already exceeding our expectations. We aim to over-deliver from both a quality and a value perspective, and we're proud that every Greg Norman Estates wine reviewed by Wine Spectator has been rated "outstanding" or "very good." According to one survey, we have an 85 percent market share of all consumer purchases of Australian wines above eleven dollars. It's unlikely that we can maintain this momentum--the Aussie premium wine business is now growing fast--but given our success in Australia, over the next few years I think we'll be poised to develop a range of California wines, which would be truly groundbreaking. Few, if any, wine businesses have transported their brand from one region to another--in this case from Australia to the United States.

Naturally, when I opened a restaurant in 1999--Greg Norman's Australian Grille in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina--wine had to play a big part. At last count, the wine list there totaled 259 selections, 196 of which are visible through a window in the wine room.

In the future, I see us taking on other activities built around wine. I believe vineyards will become as important of an amenity as golf in certain real estate developments. We have already developed two courses and one residential community in glorious wine regions. Wente Vineyards, in Livermore, California, about forty-five minutes east of San Francisco, is a highly acclaimed public course on the Wente family vineyard, which dates back to 1883 and now ranks as one of the largest producers of white wines in the world. And The Vintage, about two hours north of Sydney, has a spectacular eighteen-hole course created to complement the area's unique natural environment, specifically the vineyards of the Hunter Valley, one of Australia's premier wine regions.

Already, through one of my companies, Medallist Developments, we are planning viticulturally driven golf course communities in New South Wales and Victoria. They will be destinations in their own right, each with its own Cellar Door restaurant, and the fruit from these properties will someday be put into production for Greg Norman Estates.

The connection between food and wine seems to me the crux of appreciating wine. I learned one rule quite some time ago, and I think it's the best advice you can give someone looking to broaden his understanding of that link: Never be afraid to experiment. Try different wines with different foods. Everyone has a different palate. And never be ashamed to try an inexpensive bottle. Experimenting is really the only way to truly understand what flavors and qualities you prefer.