The Wine Guy Uncorked

NORTH BEACH SUN

At Elizabeth’s we don’t pronounce the “H”  word (referring to the storms that breeze into the Outer Banks) unless it is in an historical sense for an “H” that has already occurred. In July 12 -14, 1996 we scheduled the “First Elizabeth’s  Wine Festival”. We rented tents, brought in over 75 wines from around the world (mostly French for Bastille Day July 14) for an incredible tasting with Jazz music. The first “H” in July in a long time, Hurricane Bertha, with a subsequent mandatory evacuation  ended the ” First Festival” and led to the decision not to have a second Festival.   However, a tradition was born.  After the evacuation was announced we drank Bollinger Grand Anne Champagne as we dismantled the festival and waited for the big blow. Champagne is a fragile drink. If it is chilled and power is lost a quick warming of the bottle can ruin an otherwise spectacular beverage. We considered it a duty to drink Champagne in case power was lost and the wine was warmed.

Chilling Champagne: As a warning – a quick chilling can ruin Champagne. Putting any good wine in the freezer to speed up the chilling process is a recipe for disaster – a destruction of the wines flavors or a burst bottle.

We drank Bollinger Grand Anne as we considered that one of the finest Champagnes in the world. Madame Lily Bollinger, the widow of Jacques Bollinger who died in 1941, ran the famous Champagne House during the German Occupation of France and until her death in 1977.   During an interview in the early 1960′s Madame Bollinger was asked if she drank Champagne.  She replied:

“I only drink Champagne when I’m happy, and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I triffle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty.”

As an additional item of interest, Bollinger is the official “Champagne of James Bond”. Bollinger first appeared in “Live and Let Die” in 1973 the 10th Bond film. Bond orders a bottle of Bollinger “slightly chilled, two glasses” which was delivered to his suite by Whisper and apparently never opened in the excitement following Bond’s encounter with the poisonous snake.

Serious Bollinger product placement in the James Bond Movies  began in 1979′s Moonraker - Bollinger was first mentioned in the closing credits.  In Moonraker,  Holly Goodhead entertained 007 in her hotel room asking James to pour them a glass of Champagne. Bond remarks “Bollinger? If it’s ’69, you were expecting me.” Bond doesn’t drink from that bottle but at the end of the movie in the wreckage of the space station with Dolly, Jaws opens a bottle of Bollinger with his prodigious teeth, spits out the cork and fills two flutes. As they clink glasses Jaws utters his only line of dialogue in his two movies. “Well, here’s to us.”

Two years before Moonraker, in 1977,  “The Spy Who Loved Me” was released.  At the end of the movie Bond and Anya Amasove, the Russian agent who fell for 007, are in Stromberg’s escape pod when James finds a golden ice bucket with a bottle of Champagne. As Bond begins to open the champagne he says “Maybe I misjudged Stromberg. Any man who drinks Dom Perignon ’52 can’t be all bad.” At that moment Anya, intending to avenge the death of her deceased lover, points her gun at James and says, “The mission isn’t over, commander.” Before she can pull the trigger the audience hears the cork pop and tensions are broken as Champagne fizzles down Bond’s hand.

Although it may have saved his life, this was an improper opening of the Champagne bottle.

How to open a Champagne Bottle.
Champagne in the bottle has about 6 atmospheres of pressure (maybe one atmosphere less when properly chilled to 48 degrees.) Care should be taken when opening the bottle. The foil may be safely pealed off before preparing to open the bottle. Always keep a thumb on the top of the cork to prevent flying missals. It is a good idea to place a  towel or napkin over the cork with your thumb on top. The wire cage holding the cork on the bottle can be loosened. Still keeping a thumb on the cork top turn the little wire loop at the bottom of the cage counter-clockwise 6 turns and loosen the cage. Some Champagne openers will remove the cage and others continue to the next step without removing the loose cage. While holding the cork, turn the bottle slowly (not the cork.) When the pressure is felt releasing the cork push-in so the cork doesn’t pop. There should be a gentle sigh. Champagne opened with a loud pop is as offensive to some as gas passed in church.

I have previously written that an excellent reason for opening Champagne quietly is to allow you to enjoy Champagne in a movie theatre without anyone knowing what you are doing.

At Elizabeth’s we do open Champagne with a saber which is traditional and appropriate at a wedding celebration.  Instead of a saber, in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) , Scaramanga opens a bottle of Dom Perignon for James by shooting off the cork while the bottle is on a tray held by Nick Nack. Definitely, not a recommended method of opening your Champagne.

In “For Your Eyes Only” (1981) Countess Lisl  and James are in Colombo’s beach house where she pours the last of a bottle of Champagne into a single flute and returns the bottle upside down to a silver ice bucket. Lisl walks across the room and says cheers. James says, “Bottoms up” and the scene fades leaving the meaning of bottoms up to our imagination.

Placing Champagne Bottle up-side down in ice bucket. In most fine dining restaurants you won’t have to pour your own Champagne and you won’t have to place a bottle upside down to alert the server that the bottle is empty.

Champagne flows in 1983′s Octopussy - but what is to be expected for a film about an island populated exclusively by women. One of the classic double entendre lines occurs when Magda tells James she needs refilling after downing her Champagne. Bond replies, “Of course you do.” When the bottle is empty James offers to get more but Magda says “Don’t bother, we’ll make yours a loving cup” as she pours Champagne into Bond’s glass which they both share.

In “A View to a Kill” a 1985 film, James identifies a Bollinger ’75 from an initial sip at the restaurant on the Eiffel Tower.

A Bollinger  product placement has been mentioned in the end credits for all James Bond films from Moonraker to Die another Day with Champagne being consumed in each film.

Additional improper use of Champagne in the James Bond Films.

In three films, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, “The Spy Who Loved Me” and “Öctopussy” Champagne bottles are used as weapons by hitting people on their heads. Don’t do that at home.

In “From Russia With Love,” James Bond  is overpowered by Grant after sharing a meal in the dinning car. Bond says “Red wine with fish. Well, that should have told me something.” Grant replies, “You may know the right wines, but you are the one on your knees.”

Red or White Wine with fish?
The idea of white wine with fish began as a general rule because fish was oily and the accompanying wine needed to possess acidic qualities to cut the oiliness. Some restaurants serve lemon with fish as an acidic accompaniment. The restaurant should not serve lemon if you have ordered a wine because lemon, salt and vinegar can ruin the taste of wine. But, does this answer the question.? Did Bond identify a faux pas when Grant had red wine with his fish?

The answer depends on the fish. A red wine, Pinot Noir, can be a perfect accompaniment to seared  Sushi Grade Tuna. At Elizabeth’s we often pair a red wine with a fish on one of our two nightly prix fixe wine dinners.

In Diamonds Are Forever Wint and Kidd (posing as room service servers on the passenger liner) attempt to leave a bomb in Bond and Tiffany’s suite. Wint offers a bottle of wine to Bond and Tiffany asking, “Wine, sir? Mouton Rothschild ’55. A happy selection, if I may say?” Bond replies, “I’ll be the judge of that.”Tasting the wine Bond adds “But the wine is quite excellent. Although, for such a grand meal I had rather expected a claret.”Wint takes 007′s bait: “Of course. Unfortunanately, our cellars are rather poorly stocked with clarets.” Bond responds, “Mouton Rothschild is a claret.” And James battles the two.

A Claret
Claret is what the English call the blend of Bordeaux wines which are generally made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, and Malbec.

In 1988,  a group of California wine makers held a contest and from over 6,000 entrees adopted a new name for a wine made in America from a blend of classic Bordeaux wine grape varieties. The name adopted was Meritage. (A combination of the words merit and heritage.) Red Meritage varieties include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, and Malbec.  Not every Meritage will include all of these varieties, but must include at least two. Note, the word as pronounced rhymes with heritage.

What else can we learn about wines from movies?

Francis Ford Coppola’s, The God Father Trilogy,  contains numerous cooking and drinking scenes with Italian wines drunk from an assortment of glasses – including clunky juice glasses. Coppola is the force behind Niebaum-Coppola Winery in Napa California, producers of some great wines including , Rubicon, Cask Meritage wines and.

Edizone Pennino Zinfandel named for his grand-father and released in limited quantities on Columbus Day

In Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal Lechter advises us to sip a good Chianti with Fava Beans and body parts. Chianti wines are dry and sturdy and are made from Sangiovese, Canoiolo, Trebbiano and Malvasia grape varieties. We have not tried the food pairing recommended by Hannibal.

It is appropriate that Bill Pullman ordered a Dom Perignon (Dom Delouise) for Meg Ryan when they sat down overlooking the Empire State Building in Sleepless in Seattle. Sleepless contained a continuous  thread to An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. The wine of choice beginning with their first drink at the ship’s bar was Pink Champagne.   Rosé Champagnes are not sweet. They are Brut and derive their salmon to rose color by allowing the skins of the Pinot Noir grapes to come in contact with the juice during the press causing a slight subtle coloration. These wines are more difficult to obtain and are produced in minimum quantities. They are prized by serious Champagne drinkers.

Remember the famous line said by Rick to Ilsa in Casablanca – “Here’s looking at you kid.”? The Champagne poured was Mumm Cordon Rouge Red Label. However, Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman drank from the old style Champagne saucer or giant-bowl glasses.. The first wine glasses were said to be modeled from the breast of Helen of Troy as the Greeks acknowledged that drinking wine was a sensual experience. Hundreds of years later Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France, created a new Champagne glass molded to her own breasts which were larger and accordingly these new glasses required less refilling. To bad she didn’t keep her head and say  “Let them drink my Champagne”. These were the glasses of the past generation which caused the bubbles to dissipate more quickly and permitted considerable sloshing and over wash which occurred during toasts. Today’s Champagne glasses have a distinctive shape – basically there are two commonly used glasses – the flute and tulip-shaped glasses. These glasses are designed to hold in the bubbles. At Elizabeth’s we prefer to use Riedel Crystal for all of our wine pours.

This little article might open a door for you to consider when you view movies. Look for wine and food combinations and then when you see the movie again drink the appropriate wine. A great Sunday afternoon and evening involves watching God Father while simmering a marinara sauce and drinking some great Italian wines.

Leonard Logan is the proprietor of Elizabeth’s Café & Winery in Duck.  Winner of The Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence and The Santé Magazine Grand Award as the Best Wine Restaurant in the United States, Elizabeth’s has offered prix fix wine dinners and ala carte dining for 15 years.
Reservations 252-261-6145.

About Leonard Logan: Leonard Logan's passion for wine, love of good food, and knack for entertaining has garnered him a reputation on both a local and national level. As the owner of a restaurant that has won countless awards-from "The Best Fine Dining Wine Restaurant in the United States" (Santé Magazine, 2003) to "The Award of Ultimate Distinction" (The Wine Enthusiast, 2004 and 2005) - Logan has been honing his craft since his college days at Duke University as an amateur caterer for football games and college parties.

Tags: champagne, claret, james_bond, movies, quotes, red wine, white wine

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