Cork-Dork & Foodie Fantasy League

[Jason Zuliani]

Last night I had some spit roasted Kurobuta pork belly with a pear & ancho glaze and a bottle of '01 Reinhold Haart Riesling Auslese. A quick post to my Facebook profile drove my cork-dork/foodie friends nuts.

So that got me to thinking: Baseball, Football (American and European), and Basketball fans have their fantasy leagues. Why should wine & food fans be left out? Besides, we all know that well developed fantasies are healthy, right? So who's got a food an wine fantasy to share? The ultimate bottle, dinner, pairing, the company you'd keep. Toss it all in there!

[Suzanne Podhaizer]

I'm totally going to respond to this, but I have to think more about my answer first! Not an easy decision by any means.

[JasonFrishman]

I second Suzanne.
There's a lot of options and possibilities here.

I can start with a foodie fantasy that came true recently.
On Saturday, I visited with a friend in Boston, who is a fine wine salesman (he used to be my roommate - those were good times!)  He LOVES our Master Sauce, so I told him that I would bring im enough to make his jaw drop and some fine Vermont tasties.  I brought a beautiful steak from Tyler over at Stony Pond, some ground beef and hot italian sausage from Marc at Jericho Settlers Farm, and one each of all of the Boucher Cheeses (Boucher Family Farm), my own Kim Chi, some local asparagus, and a half gallon jar of Master Sauce.  I got to his house (about 8pm, I left right after the farmers' market), met his new wife for the first time, and i prepped a beautiful array of Vermont fine food. As I prepped, he looked at everything, tasted some things, and then went shuffling through his cellar.  He came upstairs with a 2002 Charmes-Chambert Grand Cru (excuse my spelling, I am remembering the name by memory.) He smiled at me, then removed the two bleu cheeses, telling me that he would save that for later.  We ate mightily, laughed until late in the night and drank well.  After my friend's wife went to sleep (she was wonderful and a lot of fun!), my friend brought the bleu cheeses back out and opened a Cockburn's 119 Vintage Porto.  It was a nice night.

Now, although I REALLY enjoy a nice wine, I find that is often too 'foodie' for me and doesn't always fit my gourmet peasant sensibilities. (I do miss living with my friend Mat, though.) I am fairly sure, that I wasn't quite fully appreciative of the good wines that my friend lay before me.

So, I am going to have to really think about a special fantasy league food experience...
fun thoughts to be had!

[Jason Zuliani]

After having spent a bit too much time coming up with lists of "fantasy" food and wine dinners, a theme started to emerge for me. Particular after reading Jason's reply above, it became obvious that my food and wine fantasies have, over the last few years, moved away from including iconic wines and super-chic foodstuffs to more rustic marriages. One of the benefits of being a wine merchant and a wine educator is that the trade tends to be very generous. I've been lucky enough to eat at many great restaurants, and drink many of the most iconic wines. If I had to foot the bill for some of these experiences, they would have been greatly disappointing.

My most fulfilling meals have been the ones that involve a great group of friends, a big pile of wine and excellent cooking - none of which really has ever required an epic checkbook. What many of these nights have involved is the exploration of a theme (e.g.: Pinot Noir rock-offs or Cab & Kobe night). So here's what I'm currently fantasizing about: Burgundy & Swine! I'd like to order up some Kurobuta pork, put together a few variations (roasted, grilled, etc) and serve it with a pile of red and white Burgundy. Good Pinot Noir and Chardonnay + rich, fat pork = foodgasm!

I don't have a menu yet, but I do have a wine list (of course)!

Henri Goutorbe Cuvée Prestige, Champagne -- Every big dinner needs bubbles. High-acid Champagne gets the saliva flowing!
Michel Cheveau Macon-Chaintré 'Le Clos', 2006 -- White Burgundy = Chardonnay. This one keeps with the big-on-acid theme, great for fatty foods.
Remoissenet Pere et Fils Meursault, 2005 -- Another White Burg. This time, a bit richer/more complex than the last wine. A great textural match.
Robert Arnoux Clos de Vougeot, 1999 -- The transition into Pinot, the Arnoux is sleek, juicy, & feminine - lots of florals and bright red fruit.
Michel Magnien Clos de la Roche, 2003 -- This one is a rich mouthful of spice and velvety black-skinned fruits like blackberries and plum.

Anybody wanna dream up the food pairings for this line-up? Better still, does anybody know of a VT farm raising Berkshire pigs?