Methodology

What criteria should we use to define a great country club wine list? Well, it’s not quite as simple as building or maintaining a restaurant wine list, assuming that’s easy to begin with. First and foremost, it must reflect the tastes, level of knowledge, and budget of the membership, as opposed to the general public. It should offer options that enable pairing with the food program, whether that’s a burger at the 19th hole or a night out entertaining an important client…

You can look at Golf Digest or Golf to see an annual list of the best golf courses in the world, whether you can play them or not. For the first time, Swig Coach will undertake a similar rating for golf club-associated wine programs. The admittedly ambitious goal is to rate the best club wine experiences in every state in the US, not as determined by a professional wine critic, but from the perspective of a golfing member or guest with a little bit of expertise.