Fine (brandy)

Fine (French word meaning "fine", as in "high quality") is high quality French brandy (generally AOC), including Cognac and Armagnac. Varieties include, Fine de Bordeaux, Fine de Bourgogne and Fine de la Marne.

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

In popular culture
It is notably referenced in Ernest Hemingway's works, including his posthumously published A Moveable Feast, and in his 1926 novel 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..."

In a scene in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, Bond is offered more of what Col. Smithers describes as "rather disappointing brandy." M asks what's wrong with it, and Bond replies, (Bon Bois is a Cognac region which produces a potent lime clay brandy.)
 * "I'd say it's a 30-year-old fine, indifferently blended ... with an overdose of bon bois."