Disney Dumps Its Chardonnay

Filed in archive Wine News on July 30, 2007

Just a couple months after the big announcement that Walt Disney Co. would be producing a Chardonnay celebrating their summer movie, Ratatouille, the idea has been nixed. Both Disney and costco wholesale Corp. (the store that would exclusively be selling the 2004 French Burgundy) were in agreement on the decision.

From the LA Times:

Disney said it and Costco Wholesale Corp. canceled the promotion after getting flak from California winemakers and opponents of underage drinking...

[Disney spokesman Gary] Foster said the pressure to pull the Ratatouille wine had been particularly strong from the California Wine Institute, a San Francisco trade group that represents 950 California wineries. He said domestic vintners were upset that the film promoted a French product.

The institute applauded Disney's move and denied that it had any problem with the Ratatouille wine's Gallic appellation. "We would have been just as upset if it were a California wine," said Nancy Light, an institute spokeswoman.

According to the article, Light sites the Ratatouille label (shown here) as the real problem because it might be breaking advertising standards that ban the use of cartoons or any characters that might appeal to underage people. An unrelated investigation had been opened to determine if the Disney/Costco wine marketing program had violated state laws. It is expected, however, that the investigation will be closed now that the wine program has been scrapped.