Pictures of Lillet

A proprietary blend of wine and citrus liqueurs, Lillet was created in 1872 in Bordeaux. The aromatic and floral fortified wine comes in both Rouge and Blanc varieties, and it was the latter that was featured in the signature Vesper martini in Casino Royale. Bond’s love interest, Vesper Lynd, asks if he named the drink after her “because of the bitter aftertaste.” “No,” Bond replies. “Because once you have tasted it, it’s all you’ll want to drink.” Lillet tastes delicious on its own, whether solo (Rouge or Blanc) over ice with a twist of lemon, or the two mixed together. A promotional poster commissioned in 1937 adorns new bottles.

A Fine Vessel For Your Fine Wine

Wine and music have always paired well, so perhaps that’s the inspiration for Riedel’s Amadeo Lyra decanter. Shaped like a lyre, a predecessor of the guitar dating back to ancient Greece, this elegant vessel can help transform wines old and young. Each Lyra is mouth blown, and the shape is so complex that only one artisan at Riedel is entrusted with creating these delicate decanters. Lovely enough to display as an objet d’art, the Lyra will improve your wines: decant older bottles to leave the sediment behind, and decant younger ones, especially tannic reds, to aerate and soften the wine. (www.riedel.com, $310)

Molecular Mixology

"Molecular gastronomy" is the term for outrageous chemistry set cooking. The next evolution seems to be molecular mixology, with that same sense of scientific experimentation and whimsy expressed in cocktails. Mixologist and Smirnoff consultant Cameron Bogue has created a line of "sushi" that is really a cocktail. (All the "sushi" in the photo above represents an ounce and a half of hard liquor – the same as a moderately stiff drink.) The “rice” isn’t actually the venerable grain, but instead results from a combination of innocuous chemicals, including a gum from algae, dropped in a mixture of water and calcium chloride. What would normally be the raw fish portion is, in fact, a gel made from various liquors with a base of carrageenan, an algae extracted from seaweed off the Irish coast. Think of this as glorified, grown up jello shots. Difficult to produce, these items are only now starting to appear at private functions. They're a little too complicated for most bars, restaurants and home chefs to produce, but that may change as new recipes are developed. “It’s an awesome gimmick, a way to wow guests,” says Bogue, the man who created them. Some of his recipes, including easier to make foams and powders, can be found at www.smirnoff.com.

The Three Basic Food Groups

The US government might disagree, but wine, chocolate and cheese are the three essential food groups as any serious gourmand will tell you. Join them at ENO, the clubby new facility at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, where sommelier Holly Smith has assembled a cellar of over 1500 wines, touching on all the major regions of the world, prominently displayed in a central floor-to-ceiling glass and wood wine tower ascending into the ceiling. Fifty are available by the glass, and more still can be tasted in 15 carefully selected flights, from Sauvignon Blanc to Champagne. Cheeses, too, represent the finest of the art all across the globe, while chocolates emphasize the work of local artisans. One Ritz-Carlton Drive, Dana Point, California, (949) 240-2000. www.enowinerooms.com

The Esurient Man Opens a Bottle of Bubbly

If you feel like wine is for wimps and the Ultimate Fighting Championship matches are good meal-time entertainment, you may want to switch to champagne – full contact style – while watching these pay-per-view human cockfights and other entertainment. Napoleon – small, but no sissy – is said to have created a whole new way to pop the cork when handed a celebratory bottle while sitting astride his stallion. Rather than carefully peel the foil and slowly twist the metal cage to painstakingly get to the good stuff, he simply unsheathed his sword, slid it up the neck of the bottle and dispatched the top, complete with cork and cage, in one clean stroke. You, too, can now try this at home: sabering, as it’s now known, requires only the proper tool and a little practice. Shramsberg (www.schramsberg.com), Napa Valley’s finest producer of bubbly, sells a beautiful model created to celebrate its 40th anniversary, Christofle (www.christofle.com) offers a stunning one with an intricate handle from the Haute Orfevrerie workshop and other models are available at Wally’s (www.wallywine.com) in Los Angeles.