Team Massey won over another crowd with their “swine in wine” creation – first at the local Alabama Wildlife Federation’s wild game cook off last December and again this weekend at the state finals where the goods brought home the “people’s choice award.”

And the group couldn’t be happier.

On Monday, team members Gary Musgrove, Johnny Duggan and Will Kellum spoke of their experience in front of more than 2,000 people who attended the state finals in Millbrook. The group, which also consisted of Jeff Hopkins, Courey Hopkins, junior cook Elijah Falls and serving assistant Connie Messick, was one of 13 competing for top titles.

The group recreated their local winning recipe that wowed locals.

“They wouldn’t let me call it ‘drunk hog,’” Musgrove said. “So we fancied it up and called it ‘swine in wine.’ What it consisted of was about 120 pounds of pulled pork that I marinated in red wine and vinegar for about five days and then slow roasted on the grill for 12 hours. It was de-lish.”

Kelum was in charge of presentation and setting the stage for the team, while Duggan and Messick served the meat with a side of “copper pennies.”

“That’s carrots marinated in Gary Musgrove’s secret recipe,” Duggan said. “It was his job to cook and my job to stand there and look pretty. I’d say it worked out for both of us.”

Before heading to the state finals, the group decided to keep with the same food selection.

“I killed that hog the weekend before the cook, and you know, when you’re feeding 100 people or more, it’s easier to serve up a hog than it is quail,” Musgrove said.

The group said it was an awesome experience.

“I know we didn’t bring home a first place win,” Hopkins said. “But that’s OK. I think it’s even better that we got the ‘people’s choice award,’ because that’s one that everyone there who’s eating the food has to choose. To me, that’s even better.”