Chateau Yquem.
A Sauternes, at once exotic and pricey. I yearned for a taste. On the hunt, I spied it at a tony wine store midtown. There it was enclosed in a glass cupboard with a lock and key. Lock & key? Like Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves & Bust"? I peered inside and then courageously asked for the price. $500 for half a bottle! My head spun and I tried to steady myself. I didn't want to give the wrong impression though if I was stinking rich, I probably would asked just asked for the bottle and not the price.. Then I spoke to my friend and colleague, L, and told him that as he, too, wanted to have it, we could each fork out $125 and then find two rich silent partners who would be willing to chip in the remaining money but their religious aspirations would not allow them any alcohol. It seemed like a perfect idea - too perfect and obviously unattainable. Where would I find two such fools? This idea then gathered dust in my mind.
Till the fall of 2014 when I was doing a wine course of "Food & Wine Pairing" and asked if one of the wines we were sampling included a Chateau Yquem. Unfortunately not but as the sommelier who was teaching the class also had not tried it, she arranged for a private tasting. At $25 each, there were six of us who gathered one evening for this holy tasting. The sommelier had paired this with foie gras no less and I had bought plain dark chocolate bonbons so as not to mar the flavor of this glorious wine. V had magically made my dream come true.
