{{Unreferenced, date=July 2022
In the field of oenology, the French term fine (high quality) identifies and refers to high quality brandy, usually of an
Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bou ...
(AOC), such as
Cognac
Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime.
Cognac production falls under French appella ...
and
Armagnac
Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of grapes including Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche and Ugni blanc, traditionally ...
. The varieties of ''fine'' include, Fine de Bordeaux, Fine de Bourgogne, and Fine de la Marne.
In popular culture
In the works of
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...
, the characters speak of their gastronomic adventures in drinking and eating:
In the novel ''
The Sun Also Rises
''The Sun Also Rises'' is a 1926 novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, his first, that portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the b ...
'' (1926):
* "We had dined at l'Avenue's, and afterward went to the Café de Versailles for coffee. We had several ''fines'' after the coffee. . . ."
and:
* "After the coffee and a ''fine'' we got the bill, chalked up, the same as ever, on a slate. . . ."
In the spy movie '' Goldfinger'' (1964), in an after-dinner scene with the head of the Bank of England and M:
*
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
is offered a second pouring of what his host, Col. Smithers, describes as a "rather disappointing brandy." Unclear on his host's meaning, M asks Col. Smithers "What's wrong with it?", and Bond replies, "I'd say it's a thirty-year-old ''fine'', indifferently blended . . . with an overdose of ''bon bois''."
Bond's oenological reference, ''bon bois'', is about a potent cognac randyfrom the a region of
Cognac
Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime.
Cognac production falls under French appella ...