British GQ - 04.2020

I

an Fleming’s 007 first encounters

Bollinger in a typically Bondian

moment. Towards the end of

Diamonds Are Forever (1956)

he is aboard the RMS Queen

Elizabeth bound for London, with

the diamond smuggler Tiffany

Case. There’s a knock on his cabin

door and the steward enters with

a small tray.

“Bond slipped off the bed and went over and

examined the contents of the tray. He smiled to

himself. There was a quarter bottle of Bollinger,

a chafing dish containing four small slivers

of steak on toast canapés and a small bowl of

sauce. Beside this was a pencilled note that said,

‘This sauce Béarnaise has been created by Miss T

Case without my assistance,’ signed ‘The Chef’.”

This meeting with the great Champagne

house was to prove the start of an uncharac-

teristically enduring relationship. It came to the

fore on screen in Moonraker (1979, pictured)

when Bollinger became an official partner

for the franchise – and Bond leaves us in no

doubt as to his fondness. When he enters Holly

Goodhead’s hotel room, he spies a bottle on ice.

“Bollinger!” he exclaims. “If it’s ’69 you were

expecting me.” Thus, the franchise presented

enthusiasts with a more sophisticated alter-

native to ordering the spy’s Martini (is there a

more tragic look?).

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of this

partnership, which continues in next month’s

No Time To Die, Bollinger has released a limited

edition of 407 pieces: a pewter and wood

veneer case that references Moonraker’s space

shuttle, inside of which lies a magnum of

Bollinger 2007 plus a Saint-Louis crystal ice

bucket. Steak on toast canapés optional.

The cars, foes and gadgets might come and go, but

007 has one go-to that’s outlasted all the others

B ond’s

Toast

SERVE

(NOT SO SECRET)

Story by Charlie Burton

£4,500. CHAMPAGNE-BOLLINGER.COM

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