This year’s Masters Champions Dinner featured a pair of prized California wines
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Ninety-three is a terrible number to post at the Masters.
But it’s a nice score to receive from the wine pundit Robert Parker.
Whether Scottie Scheffler had that figure on his mind in advance of this year’s tournament is hard to say, but a Parker-sanctioned, 93-point wine is what he chose to pair with his 2025 Masters Champions Dinner.
The 2019 Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay, to be precise, was produced by Boich Family Cellar in the Russian River Valley, north of San Francisco, where the land lilts like the ground at Augusta National and the volcanic soil is great for growing grapes.
2019 Chardonnay- Ritchie Vineyard
$300
Farmed by proprietor Kent Ritchie since 1972, this vineyard produces wine of rare intensity and complexity. With old vines tucked into sloping benchlands that lead into the Russian River, the Ritchie vineyard lies in the heart of the Russian River Valley appellation.
“White peach” and “Anise” aren’t hole names at Augusta. They’re two of the descriptors that Parker’s Wine Advocate included in its tasting notes alongside the 93-point score.
“In the mouth, it’s full-bodied, round and mouth filling,” the review went on to say, with “lightly citrusy” notes on the finish.
Surely, ’79 Masters champ Fuzzy Zoeller made similar remarks this past Tuesday evening as he tilted a back glass of the complex white, washing it down with Thai chili-inflected firecracker shrimp.
The firecracker shrimp was one of two appetizers on Scheffler’s menu. The other was cheeseburger sliders, which, like the meatballs and ribeye that came later in the meal, begged for a red. Not to worry: the defending champ chose one of those as well.
It, too, came from Northern California: the 2011 Vineyard 7&8, Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, from the Spring Mountain District of the Napa Valley, where cab is king.
It so happens that 2011 was a challenging year in the Napa Valley, according to Ed Manetta, a respected California-based sommelier. “Patience and diligence were required,” Manetta says. Every Masters champion would no doubt relate.
The payoff came later in the bottle.
2011 Vineyard 7&8, Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
$238
The 2019 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon follows the incredible 2018, and shows that two truly remarkable vintages can come from back-to-back years. Starting with a very dark ruby red core, the nose explodes with red cherry compote, sweet black licorice, red currant, violet, white pepper and well integrated notes of oak. On the palate the wine shows a very dense core of focused red fruits, black pepper, five spice, crushed espresso bean, all while presenting a vibrant fresh lift, structured tension, and a finish that continues well after the last taste. This is a wine that will show very well with a quick decant upon release, and continue to tell further stories for a solid 20+ years to come. We can’t wait to share this amazing with with you!
