Vintage Bond – the spy who knew wine
He is famous for his Martinis, but a bit of scrutiny shows James Bond 007 was a spy who knew and loved his wine
Recently, the Jancis Robinson website announced the topic for this year’s annual wine writing competition. The topic for this one was a great pairing – for once, writers were not expected to focus on pairing wine and food.
Wine and the movies? The pairing has been around for decades. It is only fairly recently that movies focused on the subject of wine have hit centrestage, so to speak. Ask any wine enthusiast-movie buff, and they will rattle off the names Sideways, Bottle Shock, Uncorked, and lots more, where vineyards are used as convenient, pretty backdrops for a light rom-com.
But I think they are missing an famous movie protagonist whose movies have spanned decades and whose devotion to wine (among many of life’s good things) is well-documented.
I refer to James Bond.
But isn’t he a Martini man, you might ask? Of course, he is. The Vesper Martini is the stuff of legends. But in all the brouhaha about Bond’s proclivities for fast cars and faster women, his fundamental love for wine is often overlooked.
First, his love for Bordeaux
Bond movies are studded with little wine gems for the discerning eye to catch. And it is rarely about just the pairing or the wine itself. In the movies, Bond’s choice of wine is linked to illustrate character, expose a villain, or create a thrilling moment. Take 1963’s From Russia with Love. Bond uses the long-validated pairing of white wine with fish to expose SPECTRE villain Red Grant, who exposes his lack of sophistication and thus, his fake persona by ordering a Chianti with Dover Sole: a dead giveaway. To which Bond quips, “Red wine with fish? That should have told me something.”
In 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever, Bond uses wine again to expose the fact that his sommeliers (killers in disguise) are not who they are. Bond’s comment that he expects the sommelier to serve a claret, rather than the Château Mouton-Rothschild they have opened, causes consternation. The killers, not being wine savvy (but naturally), are unaware that Mouton is actually a claret.
Château Angelus appears in 3 movies and has firmly entrenched itself as Bond’s shift from Left to Right Bank Bordeaux. In Casino Royale (2006), Bond and Vesper Lynd drink a bottle of Château Angélus. It’s not just any vintage, but the legendary 1982 vintage, which sets the stage for their great love story. Who can forget 2015’s Spectre: During the pivotal luxury train ride through the Moroccan desert, James Bond and Lea Seydoux (playing a white-satin-clad Madeleine Swann) share a romantic dinner where a Château Angelus 2005 appears, firmly establishing Bond as a Right Bank man. A superb vintage, the wine is all power and seduction, spot on for the occasion.
Bond is a true wine connoisseur: the kind who doesn’t wear his knowledge of wine on his sleeve but whose enjoyment of it is instinctive and occasion-linked. But over the years, his preferences for wine over other beverages (save the infamous Martini, said to be a personal passion of Bond’s creator Ian Fleming) have caused many wine-loving Bond fans cause for much joy.
The famous scene in Casino Royale where Vesper and Bond enjoy a bottle of Chateau Angelus 1982 on a train to Montenegro
Bond and bubbles
Bond was also a die-hard Dom Pérignon fan, 1962–1977 – he shares his love for the wine and his knowledge of its vintages several times – in Dr. No, the eponymous doctor presents Bond with Dom Pérignon ’55. Bond quips he prefers the ’53, and in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, he drinks the 1957. When the villainous Nick Nack offers Bond a bottle of Dom Pérignon ’64, Bond replies that he prefers the ’62. In The Spy Who Loved Me, he jokes, “Any man who drinks Dom Pérignon ’52 can’t be all bad.” Bond and Dom are both classics, addictive and long-lived, with legions of lovers.
But soon after, he changes over to Champagne Bollinger. This love proves to be long-standing. Bollinger appears regularly from 1973 to 2021 in Live and Let Die and Moonraker. Later, this segues to Bollinger RD in Octopussy and The Living Daylights. Bollinger La Grande Année vintages appear soon thereafter in GoldenEye and The World is Not Enough. His love life might be varied, but his love for classic champagnes, especially the prestige cuvees, remains steadfast.
In fact, in the 1960s and 1970s, Bond was a steadfast Dom Perignon fan. In fact, he tells Jill Masterson (the Bond girl who was killed most creatively by being painted from head to toe completely in gold) in Goldfinger in 1964, that to drink Dom Perignon any warmer than 38 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) is a huge no-no, likening it to “listening to the Beatles without earmuffs!” I wonder what Paul McCartney would have had to say to that!
From later in the 1970s, Bond switched loyalties to Bollinger – it is said due to the iconic Lily Bollinger’s influence on Bond producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli. In fact, though less documented, Bond is said to have flirted with Krug, Taittinger, and Veuve Clicquot as well. In fact, some say, he has indulged in far more champagne than he has of spirits, including the famous Martini.
In short, there is absolutely no doubt that Bond is, has, and will be – a man of exceptional taste.
