The fabled wine Rory McIlroy uncorked to celebrate his Masters win

Rory McIlroy had a quiet week at the PGA Championship, literally. But that’s not to say he didn’t do any media. Early in the week, he strolled a hole with Golf Channel’s Johnson Wagner and dished on course strategy at Quail Hollow and his switch to a spinnier golf ball.   

McIlroy also parted with one other fun nugget: How he celebrated on Masters Sunday. Naturally, the story includes his old pal, Shane Lowry, who as McIlroy made the walk from the 18th green to scoring gave him a bear hug that could have cracked a rib or two.

But Lowry being Lowry wasn’t going to leave the celebrations at that. Later that evening, he approached Augusta National’s sommelier, a profession that ranks high among the most prestigious jobs in golf. Beneath Augusta National’s clubhouse sits a wine cellar stocked with the world’s finest and rarest vintages. Among the members’ faves is Château Lafite Rothschild, a legendary Bordeaux that, according to the auction house, Christie’s, is “characterized with intense blackcurrant flavors and aromas that develop into pencil lead, cedar and cigar box with age.” 

As the story goes, after Jack Nicklaus won the 1972 Masters, club chairman Clifford Roberts gifted Nicklaus cases of 1947 and ’52 Château Lafite. Nicklaus stored the wine in coolers in his Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., home, and it spoiled. “Expensive lesson,” he said. “I ended up with high-priced vinegar.”

Anyway, Lowry wanted to do something special for his friend so he asked the keeper of ANGC’s wine collection if he could buy a couple of cases of vino from the club.

“Mr. Lowry,” the sommelier replied, as McIlroy recounted the story, “we don’t allow people to take wine out of the club.”

But Lowry insisted, McIlroy said, “so they let him buy one case of 1990 Château Lafite Rothschild. So that’s what we had that night to celebrate. That was a very nice gift. He bought it, and he brought it to my rental house that night and we had a few glasses.”

A review of the wine by K&L Wine Merchants says the 1990 vintage “brings power and toned muscle to the big, rich body that fills out a plush mid-palate, with all the elements comfortably integrated and striking perfect balance between vivacious energy and a luxurious texture.”

Sounds expensive, right? And it is, with bottles, if you can find one, starting at around $1,000 online and soaring up to $3,000 or even $4,000. “Prices are always all over the map because they don’t have exclusive importers like most wines,” said Paul Einbund, a sommelier and winemaker who owns two Bay Area restaurants, The Morris and Sirene. “They are so famous and sought after that they can say no to exclusives.”