Bond Girl Carole Bouquet launches new wines

19-May-2004 • Actor News

Actress Carole Bouquet announced last week that her wines will make their American debut at Alain Ducasse's two New York restaurants, reports Wine Spectator.

Best known for costarring with Roger Moore in the 1981 James Bond movie "For Your Eyes Only", the French actress has been making wines in southern Italy and Bordeaux.

Alain Ducasse at the Essex House and Mix in New York will carry both of Bouquet's wines: a 2001 dessert wine called Passito di Pantelleria and La Croix de Peyrolie 2002, a Bordeaux red from Lussac-St.-Emilion, a satellite appellation of St.-Emilion. "Most people don't know about Lussac," said winemaker Claude Boudamani, who is overseeing both of Bouquet's vineyards. "In Bordeaux, there's still good soil that has not been discovered."

Bouquet owns nearly 15 acres in Pantelleria, a small volcanic island that belongs to Italy and is located between Sicily and Tunisia; it is known for its Moscato di Pantelleria, made from Zibbibo grapes (a member of the Muscat family). The wine is produced through a concentration technique that has been practiced on the island for centuries: Grapes are handpicked and allowed to raisin on top of the volcanic soil for up to a month (a process called appassimento in Italy), resulting in a sweet, amber-colored wine. "This wine looks and smells like the place it came from," Bouquet said. She has also begun producing olive oil on the land.

Bouquet produced about 420 cases of the Passito di Pantelleria 2001, which already appears on the menus of several of Ducasse's other restaurants. In New York, it will be sold for $82 a bottle or $16 a glass.

The La Croix de Peyrolie 2002 is 100 percent Merlot and produced on 3 acres that Bouquet purchased in 2002. It will be bottled and released in June, Boudamani said.

Boudamani said he expects to sell some of the wines at retail shops in or around Manhattan beginning in September. The Passito di Pantelleria will retail for around $50; the La Croix de Peyrolie for $80 to $100.

Thanks to `Dent` for the alert.