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The Secret of St. Andrews podcast is for golf enthusiasts, history buffs and patriots.
We'd like to thank our friends at the Bottega del Vino Wine Lounge and Little Italy Restaurant in St. Andrews for their wonderful hospitality and encourage all our listeners to visit when you're at the home of golf.
Scotland is known for its whisky, but claret wine could still be considered the national drink of Scotland. Claret wine is a French Bordeaux that plays an important part in Scottish history, which can be traced back to 1295, when the Scots entered a military and diplomatic agreement with France called the Auld Alliance.
This alliance gave Scottish merchants access to the finest Bordeaux wines, which then became staples of Scotland's upper class. By the 18th century, claret wine was a symbol of Scottish nationalism and was popular among prominent Jacobites. When King James II fled to France after the Glorious Revolution, the British government politicized French wines, especially those from Bordeaux.
They placed heavy restrictions on French imports, including severe taxes on Bordeaux wines. Toasting King James with a glass of claret wine from Bordeaux became a sign of Scottish defiance and was later outlawed by the British—a crime punishable by two years of imprisonment. Nonetheless, golf's first private clubs, like the Royal Burgess and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, embraced claret wines for all occasions, and members often settled their wagers with bottles of the coveted French Bordeaux.
Members of these clubs arranged to have their cases of claret smuggled across the Channel. The most important trophy in golf is the Claret Jug, awarded to the Champion Golfer of the Year who wins the Open Championship. Club members would decant their wine in claret jugs shaped much like the coveted Open Championship trophy.
Club members often used their own wine glasses to consume their claret. Etched in the glasses were the Scottish thistle or an oak leaf, symbols of their support for King James and the Stuart dynasty. In the years following the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, fellow members who supported the British Hanoverian government would bite their tongues and look the other way when toasts to "the king over the water" were proposed.
If you fancy a Bordeaux-style red blend, you might try a Super Tuscan blend from Italy or a Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, which use the same type of Cabernet and Merlot grapes as those in Bordeaux. And the next time you propose a golf wager, play for a bottle of claret or another blended red wine.
You'll be honoring your golfing ancestors from the home of golf.