Fine (drink)

Fine (French word meaning "fine", as in "high quality") is a term for some high quality French brandy (generally AOC), not including Cognac and Armagnac.

Varieties include:
* Fine de Bordeaux
* Fine de Bourgogne
* Fine de la Marne

It is notably referenced in Ernest Hemingway's work, especially The Sun Also Rises:
* "We had dined at l'Avenue's and afterward went to the Café de Versailles for coffee. We had several fines after the coffee..."
* "After the coffee and a fine we got the bill, chalked up the same as ever on a slate"

(It is also mentioned in A Moveable Feast.)

In a scene in the James Bond film Goldfinger, Bond is offered what is described by his host as "rather disappointing brandy". Bond comments that it is a "30 year-old fine, indifferently blended...with an overdose of bon bois.

It was formerly quite common in France; it is now quite rare.

References

* [http://www.winejoe.com/archives/wj2000/March00/wrhemmingway.htm Page on Fine and Marc]