Buyout madness, Ratatouille, high alc — sipped and spit
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Sipped: Leaping into retirement
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars was sold for $185 million. The legendary founder, Warren Winiarski, now 78, will stay on three more years in a consultative role–just long enough for the two rival movies about the Paris tasting to appear in theaters! The buyers are Ste. Michelle, a unit of UST, and Piero Antinori, who will own 85% and 15% respectively. [Reuters]
Sipped and spit: Gallo buys William Hill and Canyon Road! Duckhorn almost sold! [SF Chronicle]
Spit: Ratatouille wine
Before one bottle was on shelves, Disney canceled a Ratatouille branded wine. Was it because the wine was French while Disney’s home is in California, coincidentally also the home of 90% of American wine production? Was it the idea of selling a wine in an animated movie (at least ostensibly) aimed at kids (though wine features prominently in the film)? Or was it a new puritanical streak since they recently banned smoking from their movies? [LA Times]
Spit: high alcohol wine
Randy Dunn, maker of Howell Mountain Cabernet, says “higher alcohol wines should stop.” I guess we know how he would vote in the poll! [Appellation America]
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On August 1st, 2007 at 10:37 am ,East Village Wine Geek wrote:
My brother is always buying Disney stuff for his two little girls. Wouldn’t it be cool if they were at Disney and the kids are asleep with dreams of fairies and crickets running and singing through their heads and mom and dad sit back and enjoy a Ratatouille wine and drink them out of matching Minnie And Mickey Riedel Bordeaux stemware…..nice.
It is sad to see that Warrens days are coming to an end but yes, his legacy will remain. Looks like I need to splurge on some Warren years. But as I was just commenting on Mondosapore, even this news is sad at least we have this nothing-above-fourteen-percent craziness shows a beautiful light at the end of the tunnel.
EvWg
On August 1st, 2007 at 9:22 pm ,Joe wrote:
Antinori - very interesting. Those guys are marketing gurus.