Several years ago, two doctors (both Stanford alums) gifted me with a beautiful bottle from the university's wine collection. I'd neither seen it nor heard of such a thing. A college with a wine collection? I knew Stanford was a wonderful school, but this threw me for a loop. I accepted the bottle and laid it down, unsure of the right time to open it.&nbsp;

Tonight, in honor of two more Stanford alums - the newly minted pro golfer Rose Zhang and the <a href="https://www.lpga.com/news/2022/mizuho-americas-open-brings-the-lpga-to-liberty-national-golf-club-in-2023">LPGA Mizuho</a> tournament host and major champion Michelle Wie - I opened the 2014 Stanford Governor's Selection Red Blend from <a href="https://bodkinwines.com/">Bodkin Wines</a>. Turns out tonight was the right time.

The missus made pesto pasta with pork ribs and coleslaw and they paired wonderfully with this silky offering from Sonoma County. Rapturous red fruit, mint and eucalyptus leapt from the glass and the finish was lengthy and tightly focused. Eucalyptus, you might ask? It all makes sense if you know the Stanford mascot (a tree!).&nbsp;

In 2014, Michelle won the <a href="https://www.uswomensopen.com/">U.S. Women's Open</a> and Rose was two years away from winning her first <a href="https://www.ajga.org/">AJGA</a> golf event.&nbsp;

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Stanford University, one of the great institutions of learning in the world, quietly makes a tremendous fleet of wines. Recently, I popped the cork on one to investigate.

Golf

Stanford University, Institute of Higher Learning - and Great Wine?

Rory McIlroy - champion golfer and ace interview subject - knows his fermented grape juice. During a visit to Golf Channel, we hit on a number of topics outside of sports, from the brilliance of the book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cork-Dork-Wine-Fueled-Sommeliers-Scientists/dp/0143128094">Cork Dork</a> by Bianca Bosker to the magic of the <a href="https://www.sommfilms.com/">Somm Films</a> series to the wonder of the 2013 Napa vintage. His wine resume, like his golf CV, is filled with big-time enjoyment, including sips of <a href="https://www.opusonewinery.com/">Opus One</a>, <a href="https://www.harlanestate.com/">Harlan</a> and <a href="https://www.scarecrowwine.com/">Scarecrow</a>. He is also familiar with the charms of Bordeaux and White Burgundy. I would have gladly peppered Rory about Barolo from Italy and Pinot Noir from Oregon, but eventually we had to talk golf. I look forward to revisiting the world of wine with this global star who happens to hit a golf ball 350 yards on command. As much as he enjoys booming drives, you get the real sense that a great glass of wine moves him just as much.&nbsp;

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Rory McIlroy, a four-time major champion and face of professional golf, shares his favorite bottles during a recent trip to the Golf Channel studios. 

Rory McIlroy, Renaissance Man

Forging one of the most legendary careers in golf history was not enough for Jack Nicklaus. The 18-time major champion has authored a robust business portfolio as well, from golf course architecture to clothes to wine. Starting in 2010, Nicklaus partnered with <a href="https://www.terlato.com/s/">Terlato Wines</a>&nbsp;to make an array of Napa wines, including a private reserve Bordeaux blend and a Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2010 Cab won silver in the 2013 San Francisco International Wine Competition. 

The story goes that Jack's interest in wine began when started competing in the Masters. Annually the club started sending him a bottle, which he would store in the garage of his South Florida home. About a decade into the process, he realized that a South Florida garage is not exactly an ideal place to store wine and soon concocted a refrigeration system to properly store his prized bottles!

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Jack Nicklaus, golf's greatest major champion, has long enjoyed wine and has also been a player in the wine business for nearly 15 years.

Talking Wine With the Golden Bear

Congratulations to NBA Top 75 all-time player Carmelo Anthony on the release of his own wine brand VII(N) The Seventh Estate, a Chateauneuf-du-Pape from the Southern Rhone region in France. Melo has been at the forefront of the NBA's deep dive into fermented grapes, from his connoisseurship to buddies' trips to the Napa Valley to his own You Tube show about wine. And now he takes another big step in a wine region that happens to be among my two or three favorites. May Melo's wine be as smooth as his jump shot! I wouldn't bet against him!

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After years of enjoying wine as a collector and connoisseur, the 10-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony is getting into the wine business himself.

Basketball

Carmelo Anthony Launches French Wine

Chris DiMarco made his bones in golf by going nose to nose with Tiger Woods and living to tell about it.&nbsp;On the first occasion, the 2005 Masters, Tiger needed a miraculous chip shot through the shadows on a late Augusta afternoon to beat him. At the 2006 Open, with both men grieving the recent loss of a parent, Chris’s grit and gutsy shotmaking fell just short to Tiger’s clinical iron play.

I was present for both occasions as the New York Times golf writer and marveled at the toughness of Chris’s chin. He would finish his PGA Tour career as a three-time winner and hero of the 2005 Presidents Cup.

When Chris became a colleague on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive, I was fortunate to share conversations about his battles inside the ropes, occasionally over a glass of wine.

I learned how devastated he was losing his mom, Norma, to a heart attack on July 4, 2006, just days before he was to leave to England for the Open. He would later tell me that part of his inspired play during the championship came from being introduced to his walking scorer before the third round.

“I looked at my caddie and I went, ‘We’re good. She’s with us. She’s watching right now,’” Chris told me.

One of my favorite times with Chris and his wife, Amy, was the night they invited several colleagues to their Orlando home for dinner and bowling. (His basement bowling alley was named Gator Lane, a nod to his beloved alma mater, the University of Florida Gators).

While there were so many cool aspects to the house – a gator skin wall, a room filled with dozen of golf bags and hundreds of clubs – my favorite spot was the wine cellar just off the kitchen.

Before dinner, Chris gave me the quick tour. Air-conditioned, air tight, wood-colored and stocked floor to ceiling, Chris pulled a 2011 Vinoce red blend from the shelf.

It was smoky and silky, with notes of black cherry and cocoa.

The Vinoce estate rests on the northern end of Mount Veeder, a region of Napa known for powerful, polished wine.&nbsp;

“In a Cab, I am looking for smooth, bold and velvety,” Chris told me.

When in the mood for white wine Chardonnay is his grape of choice, preferably with a profile that is “buttery and with a light, fruity taste,” he said.

Asked to name his top three wineries Chris says Frank Family, Vinoce and V12, three gems of the Napa Valley.

Chris has since joined PGA Tour Champions and moved to Colorado, closer to the ski slopes and, yes, to Napa as well.

He also hosts an annual charity event in Orlando in the name of his late parents, the Norma and Rich DiMarco Tee Up For Life to help raise funds for the American Cancer Society.

And while his long-ago tussles with Tiger will always be a large part of his bio, a closer look reveals a sentimentalist with an appreciation for great wine.

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Chris DiMarco made his bones in golf by going nose to nose with Tiger Woods and living to tell about it. On the first occasion, the 2005 Masters, Tiger needed a miraculous chip shot through the shadows on a late Augusta afternoon to beat him.

Showing all 5 posts.

Stanford University, Institute of Higher Learning - and Great Wine?

Rory McIlroy, Renaissance Man

Talking Wine With the Golden Bear

Carmelo Anthony Launches French Wine

Chris Dimarco Talks Wine