James Bond´s favourite champagne

As all friends of James Bond know, OO7 had - or should we say still has - an exquisite taste for good wine and other related beveridges. Already in the first movie, Dr No, Bond shows his preference for champagne; Dom Pérignon.

When asked by Dr No to taste the champagne, a Dome Pérignon 1955, Bond - after first thinking about using the bottle as a weapon - replies that he prefers the 1953 vintage.

Who was right about the vintage, Dr No or Bond?

Dom Pérignon’s Chef de Cave, Richard Geoffroy should be the right person to judge. Here are his comments about the vintages:


1953 Dom Pérignon

1953 was a generous vintage, very expressive right at release (about as totally opposed to 1952 as possible). Rich and full, mellow and luscious, this wine reveals notes of butter, honey and dried apricot. As the wine breathes the toasted character stands out to evolve in the end towards iodine and oyster shells.

1955 Dom Pérignon

1955 was the archetype of the classical vintage that defines harmony in Champagne—maybe the greatest of the decade. Very energetic and racy, remarkably thorough, this wine is at the same time intense and profound. These qualities express the typical, intriguing paradox of youth versus maturity, combining to create a feeling of completeness. Right in the center, the fruit (sultana) is still very vibrant, with notes of vanilla, smoke and praline (sugar-coated almond).

Well, according to the expert, both the 1953 and the 1955 seem to have been excellent vintages. So Dr No, in spite of being a bad crook, at least seems to have known how to appreciate good quality champagne.

Later Dom Pérignon reappeared in at least these Bond movies:

Goldfinger (vintage 53)

The Spy Who Loved Me (52)

On Her Majesty´s Secret Service (57)

You Only Live Twice (59)

Thunderball (55)

The Man with ghe Golden Gun (64)
(Although Bond says he prefers 62)


In several of the latest Bond movies 007 seems to have switched to Bollinger - another superb champagne classic - but at least this friend of Bond´s prefers his original choice of brand.