Forget the Martini; 007 Will Have the Wine - NYTimes.com

ST. ?MILION, France ? James Bond drank French Bollinger Champagne and ordered vodka martinis splashed with French Lillet. But at a conference in Paris in 2007, one French scholar declared that the fictional British secret agent ?was a pitiful connoisseur of wine.?

Yet who can forget the remake of Casino Royale in 2006? In the early train scene when Daniel Craig (as James Bond) first meets Eva Green (as Vesper Lynd, British Treasury agent), they are sipping an excellent 1982 St. ?milion from Ch?teau Ang?lus.

It turns out that Ch?teau Ang?lus?s representative in Paris had a connection to the family of Barbara Broccoli, one of the producers of the Bond film. A case was sent off. One thing led to another, and the bottle appeared (with the label clearly visible) on the table between Mr. Bond and Ms. Lynd as they travel together to Montenegro.

?James Bond needed a red wine in the film, and we said, ?Why not think of this one??? said St?phanie de Bo?ard-Rivoal, who works in the family business and recently gave me and my family a private tasting and tour. ?It was a discreet way to do publicity.?

Ch?teau Ang?lus was elevated on Thursday to the highest of three ?cru? ranks for fine St. ?milion wines: ?premier grand cru class? A? by France?s National Institute of Appellations of Origin, the governmental agency in charge of food and drink quality in France. Ch?teau Ang?lus and one other wine, Ch?teau Pavie, joined two other wines already on the exclusive list, Ch?teau Ausone and Ch?teau Cheval Blanc.

Ch?teau Ang?lus has worked aggressively in recent years to raise its public profile and its cachet. The wine has appeared in more than 20 films since 2004, among them Diane Kurys?s ?L?Anniversaire? (2005), with Lambert Wilson; ?La Vie en Rose? (2007), with Marion Cotillard; ?From Paris with Love? (2008), with John Travolta; and Brian de Palma?s ?Passion,? with Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace, which made its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival on Friday.

At the same time, Ch?teau Ang?lus has made a huge financial investment to expand, modernize and prettify its headquarters in the St. ?milion region. One of its new features will be a bell tower with 18 bells that will ring the Angelus call to prayer. The two principal bells were taken from an old church in the Savoy region.

The United States makes up 30 to 35 percent of Ch?teau Ang?lus?s market, and China about 30 percent. Europe, Brazil and Russia account for most of the rest. When foreign visitors come, the bells will play their national anthems.

Ch?teau Ang?lus can be considered rather pricey for a St. ?milion. Wine lovers with thinner wallets might consider the selection nearby offered by Philippe Faniest at the much less expensive, smaller and lesser-known Ch?teau Rochebelle. In a blind tasting of ?garage? wines from 1996, 1997 and 1998 conducted in 2001, Ch?teau Rochebelle came in first. Its boutique sells a range of St. ?milions, as well as wine jelly and wine-coated sea salt.

At Ch?teau Ang?lus, no wine is sold in the small boutique, just items like books, umbrellas and scarves.
But just for fun, I asked Ms. de Bo?ard-Rivoal what a bottle of James Bond?s St. ?milion would cost. ?Oh, ?82 was a spectacular year,? she said. ?There is no stock left.?

Source: http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/forget-the-martini-007-will-have-the-wine/

boxing day radio shack bethany hamilton bethany hamilton after christmas sales macys stratfor