The Disney Corporation has pulled out of the wine business before its wines had hit the shelves.
Disney has cancelled its Ratatouille wine, a tie-in with the much-lauded Pixar animation of the same name about a haut-cuisine-loving rat, which was to be sold in Costco stores from August.
A ‘trickle’ of enquiries and complaints made the corporation decide not go to ahead with the promotion, Disney spokesman Gary Foster said.
Foster told the Los Angeles Times that the California Wine Institute had pressured Disney to pull the wine. The fact it is French wine upset domestic vintners, he said.
‘But the entire movie is based on a French restaurant and French food and wine,’ he added.
The Institute said the appellation was not a problem. They complained to Disney because the label showed the film’s star, Remy the rat, holding a tiny glass, which could violate advertising ethics.
The advertising code bans advertising that might appeal to children by the use of cartoon characters or very young models.
‘We basically shared the code with [Disney],’ Institute spokewoman Nancy Light told the Times.
Disney was going to sell 500 cases of Ratatouille in Costco. The wine was sourced from Macon estate Chateau de Messey. Owner Marc Dumont produced it from grapes in his Cruzille vineyard and put the movie label on his regular Bourgogne Chardonnay.
Written by Adam Lechmere, and agencies
