On April 11, patrons will descend on Augusta National Golf Club for the first round of the Masters Tournament, the first majors championship of the year and, arguably, the most prestigious. But if you’re reading this, you understand that the really important part of the week happens on Tuesday, April 9. That’s when past Masters winners gather at the Augusta clubhouse for what’s officially called the Masters Club Dinner—though it’s known to one and all as the Masters Champions Dinner—held in honor of the previous year’s champion. They will dine on a menu that, as tradition dictates, the defending champion—this year, Jon Rahm—selects.

(By the way: in case you’re wondering who will pay for the 2024 Masters Champions Dinner, the answer is none other than Jon Rahm.)

And Rahm’s four courses, created with the help of his friend and world-renowned chef José Andrés, look fantastic: tapas y pintxos with six different options (yes, there will be ham), followed by a Basque crab salad, a choice of turbot or Basque ribeye steak for the main course, and a dessert of creamy milhojas puff pastry.

But despite its fabled members-only cellar, Augusta National does not publicize the wine pairings for the Masters Champions Dinner. The Masters is notoriously buttoned-up when it comes to press, and The New Wine Review’s best efforts to learn what pairings will be served at this year’s dinner were politely rebuffed.

Rahm teased some details about the wines that would be served at his dinner—Txakoli, Bodegas CVNE—but to complete this vision of green-jacketed glory, NWR reached out to three top sommeliers to see what wines they’d pair with this year’s menu.

Kenny Toll is the lead sommelier at Brooklyn wine bar Place des Fêtes. (Don’t let the French name fool you—its thoughtfully-curated natural wine list is predominantly Spanish.) Previously he worked at Michelin-starred Oxalis, which, like Place des Fêtes, is also owned by Redwood Hospitality Group.

Nikita Malhotra is the head sommelier at Pressoir, the organization behind events such as La Paulée and La Fête du Champagne. Before that, Malhotra was beverage manager for Momofuku Ko, where she built and oversaw a program that won the 2023 Grand Prix Star Wine List of the Year for New York. She was also named the Michelin Guide's best sommelier in New York in 2022.

Jon Walker is the wine director of Pappas Bros. Steakhouse in Dallas, which won The World of Fine Wine's "World’s Best Long Wine List" in North America in 2023. Formerly he was sommelier at the three-Michelin-starred Manresa in Los Gatos, California, and at the Alotian Club in Roland, Arkansas. (The latter is a private golf club modeled after—you guessed it—Augusta National.) 

With that, we’ll turn this over to the somms. You might say they each came up with a wine pairing unlike any other.

Tapas y Pintxos: 2020 Colet Navazos Penedès Brut Nature 

The idea here is that they're using liqueur d'expédition dosed with palo cortado and amontillado, so what you're getting is this rich, kind of lush, subtle caramelization, and a lot of chalkiness coming from this addition of sherry when they're topping up after disgorgement. It gives you this layered, savory, beautifully rich sparkling wine that still has life and intense vibrancy. 

First Course - Ensalada de Txangurro (Basque Crab Salad, Potato): 2021 Jon Goenaga G1200 Getariako Txakolina

[Winemaker Jon Goenaga] would go around and sell his avocados to all the Michelin-starred restaurants that were in the area. He would leave a bottle of this Txakolina that he had made, which was really meant for his own consumption. And everyone fell in love with it. He's working purely organically and biodynamically, which is pretty rare in this region. If you're adding potato into a crab salad, you get a little bit of weight. This is going to lift it up. You get so much of that ocean salinity present in the wine. It's crisp with this kind of lemon-zest vibrancy that is really beautiful. 

Main Course - Chuletón a la Parrilla (Basque Ribeye, Tudela Lettuce, Piquillo Peppers); Rodaballo al Pil-Pil (Turbot, Navarra White Asparagus):
2020 Enric Soler Nun Vinya dels Taus and 2019 Amigos del Tiempo (Raúl Pérez) Piedra Cachada Cebreros

Nun is the Xarel.lo I would suggest [for the turbot]. These are about 70-year-old vines, all biodynamic, so you get a little bit of age. What I love about this is that you can mistake it for a Meursault. It's got this beautiful richness, a little subtle bit of oxidation. It feels like you're really drinking above its weight.

[Pérez] is working with Garnacha, all grown on these really intense pure granite terroirs. He has done slightly lighter macerations, so what you're left with are these medium-bodied, graphite-driven, crushed-cherry notes—this deep and subtle plumminess that I really love. And I think it holds up just enough to really highlight the [ribeye’s] ingredients, without either one overtaking the other.

Dessert - Milhojas de Crema y Nata (Puff Pastry Cake, Custard & Chantilly Cream): De la Riva Pedro Ximénez Viejísimo Sherry

It's been sitting with oxidative aging for decades, and [Andalusian producers Willy Pérez and Ramiro Ibañez] found it, and have bottled it, and are releasing it. It's so intense. It's got balsamic vinegar, intense caramelization, oxidation, it's incredibly thick. A small pour of that with something light, like chantilly cream and custard, would be a really beautiful and fun kind of side by side—and a really opulent way to finish.

Tapas y Pintxos: El Maestro Sierra Sherry Oloroso

I love El Maestro Sierra, and I was thinking of their oloroso sherry. Some of the barrels are older than 50 years old, so there's a lot of depth there. I feel like there are some moments, with the tapas, where the slight nuttiness of the sherry would shine through, and there are some moments where the acid will come through. 

First Course: 2019 Amorotti Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo

I love Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo. Sure, it's rosé. But think about Valentini's Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, and how singular it is. The neighbor of Valentini—so it's a little bit more approachable, in terms of finding it—is Amorotti. They usually do a year of elevage in oak, so there's this roundness to the wine that I think is really beautiful—it's not quite a red wine, since it is Cerasuolo, but it adds more depth.

Main Course: 2016 An Approach to Relaxation Sucette Barossa Valley Grenache

Grenache grown on sandy soils is particularly beautiful and works well with a lot of cuisines. Richard Betts makes a great one from Australia. He specifically wanted to recreate a Rayas moment. [Betts and his wife and fellow winemaker, Carla] have found it in Australia. It's at least century-old vines, which is pretty spectacular. There’s a softness to sandy soil—you get more red-fruited characteristics. There's more of an elegance to it. Because I work with Burgundy, I always do this, but yes: it's more Pinot-like in character.

Dessert: 2017 Domaine Castera Jurançon

I never want to go too sweet on a dessert pairing, so I'm always looking at acid as my qualifying way of enjoying dessert. And I feel like more people should be drinking Jurançon. Petit Manseng is a great variety that is really similar to Chenin Blanc, in terms of its acid levels, and the history of Jurançon is so interesting.

Tapas y Pintxos: 2004 Recaredo Turó d’en Mota Brut Nature

It's a single-vineyard wine from Recaredo’s best site, which is really teeny tiny—less than a hectare in size. It was planted in 1940, so it's a really unique example of barrel-fermented Xarel.lo from old vines that’s aged for about 10 years before they even start to disgorge and release it onto the market. This would be a very nice complement for any of those firsts on the tapas course.

First Course: 2017 Marqués de Murrieta Capellanía Rioja

This is 100 percent Viura from another small plot. Real calcareous soils from, on average, 70-plus year old vines, leading to a full-bodied example that's very Burgundian in style. A very generous example of Viura that has a lot of length and depth and texture that complements a crab salad.

Main Course: 1986 Marqués de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Rioja Gran Reserva Especial Blanco and 1961 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Único Gran Reserva Ribera del Duero

The 1986 Castillo Ygay Blanco is an interesting wine, because it really was a milestone in Spanish winemaking history. Again, Viura, but a different expression—a rather older example of it. These are some of the longest-lived wines as far as whites are concerned. The texture really complements and allows for the best expression of turbot, and accentuates that fish in particular.

The 1961 is one of the better examples of Tempranillo from this estate—black fruited, spicy, kind of cradled in a basket of violets and rose petals and lilacs. These wines, especially right now, are showing unbelievably well. I put them on par with First Growth Bordeaux or Grand Cru Burgundy. For a full-bodied piece of beef with peppers, this would be an excellent complement to balance the dish.

Dessert: 1934 Bodegas Toro Albalá Don PX Gran Reserva

This wine is just on fire right now. It is a wine that shows chocolate, coffee, caramel, raisins, molasses, fruitcake—something that would be good on its own, and complementary to not only this dessert but many, many others. And I suspect most of the people in attendance would probably enjoy a cigar with an additional glass.