French firm toasts James Bond`s martini as Lillet is back in fashion
23-Nov-2006 • Bond News
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On-screen Bonds have usually ordered a "vodka martini - shaken, not stirred".
But in Casino Royale, which premiered earlier this month, actor Daniel Craig lists Bordeaux aperitif Lillet as an ingredient of the spy's favourite tipple.
"Three measures of Gordon's (gin), one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet, shake it over ice then add a thin slice of lemon peel," Bond asks a waiter as he duels with his adversary in a high-stakes game of poker.
That repeat of the recipe from Ian Fleming's first Bond novel has prompted viewers to contact the firm, which has just seven staff and has dropped the word Kina from its name.
"We have had calls from all over the United States from people who were looking for Lillet or who wanted to make this cocktail and wanted more information about the cocktail," Bruno Borie, who owns and runs the company, told Reuters.
"And now we have received some from countries that are more exotic for us ... Yesterday we had Greece, we had Turkey, we had Bahrain," said Borie.
The company, set among vineyards in the town of Podensac, roughly 30km from the south-western city of Bordeaux, sells close to 1 million bottles a year, roughly half in France and the remainder mostly in the United States, he said.
Borie said he expected the publicity from the film would improve sales and help modernise the image of the drink, which is made from wine, fruit liqueur and quinine.
"In the 1950s the Duchess of Windsor was certainly Lillet's biggest customer. She had a case of Lillet sent ahead of her whenever she travelled," Borie said.
"Today we have moved into the arms of Eva Green, which is more modern," he added, referring the French actress who plays the bond girl in Casino Royale.
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