Ratatouille is without a doubt one of the most well-loved movies about cooking - it's a thoughtful celebration of the beauty and joy of culinary creations disguised as an animated kids movie. Even Anthony Bourdain was a huge fan of it!

Perhaps what makes this movie even more delightful is the sprinkling of easter eggs that would get wine lovers chuckling. On a recent rewatch of the movie, I was pleasantly surprised to spot cameos from some truly legendary wines in various scenes, all woven into the movie with a touch of humour and wit!

It's time to drink vicariously through your TV screen! Here's every wine bottle featured in Disney's Ratatouille, decoded and explained!

1. Chateau Latour 1961 (A.K.A The wine used by Chef Skinner to seduce the truth out of Linguine)

In a scene where the cunning Chef Skinner is attempting to ply the truth from our unsuspecting hero, Linguine, by offering him getting him drunk, he pours him a glass of 61’ Latour. He even resolutely declares that one would “have to be an idiot of elephantine proportions not to appreciate this 61’ Chateau Latour!”. 

That Chateau Latour is Skinner’s choice of a wine designed to seduce is pretty fitting. Chateau Latour is one of the five wine estates in Bordeaux awarded “First Growth” status, and owns the oldest vineyard of the Big 5 Bordeaux. Latour has historically specialised in Cabernet Sauvignon and produces wines known for their intense black fruit flavours and unmistakable minerality. In particular, the 1961 vintage - offered here by Skinner - is widely known to be one of the Chateau’s best vintages to date. 

2. E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie  (The wine Ego refuses to waste a single drop of!)

In a particularly humorous scene, the feared food critic Anton Ego is enjoying a glass of a mysterious wine when his butler interrupts him to inform him of Gusteau's re-emerging popularity. Ego is so shocked by this news that he involuntarily spits out some of his wine, before hurriedly checking the wine label, and forcing himself to swallow down what’s left of the wine. 

The wine in question that Ego believes should never be wasted looks to be a E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie. E. Guigal is a widely renowned winemaker that popularised and championed Côte-Rôtie wines, which are produced in the northern Rhone wine region of France from Syrah grapes. Côte-Rôtie wines often carry distinctive aromatic notes of florals, olives and bacon. 

3. Chateau Cheval Blanc 1947 (A.K.A The wine ordered by Ego as an accompaniment for "fresh, clear, well seasoned perspective!)

At the climax of Ratatouille, food critic Ego orders a glass of 1947 Cheval Blanc to accompany a “fresh, clear well seasoned perspective” when he visits Gusteau’s to try Linguine’s cooking for himself. 

And certainly, it seems fitting that this is the wine that he drank on a night where his preconceptions were well shattered! Chateau Cheval Blanc is a winery that’s located from the Right Bank of Bordeaux, an area which is often overlooked in lieu of Left Bank wineries. Despite having been omitted from the 1855 classifications of “First Growth” Bordeaux estates, it is rarely ever in doubt today that Cheval Blancs are of the highest quality and are one of the most celebrated of the Bordeaux wines. 

Their wines are known for their intensely and complexity, while still retaining a silky and velvety mouthfeel. The 1947 vintage that Ego orders is especially legendary as its often regarded to be the best Bordeaux ever produced, rated 100 points famed wine critic Robert Parker. (Fun fact: Parker was once bitten by the dog of Chateau Cheval Blanc’s manager Jacques Hebrard, but that’s a story for another time!)

4. A *Bonus* Unreleased Wine! (A.K.A. The wine that could never be...) 

(Image source: Cellar Tracker)

Given Ratatouille's breakout success in the box office and its popularity amongst wine and culinary aficionados, in 2007, Disney and Pixar had plans to release some French-produced Ratatouille-branded wines to Costco stores! Label illustrations for the wine were already in the works, but unfortunately, the launch of the wines was eventually abandoned when the California Wine Institute filed a complaint about the use of cartoon characters on the labels, which might lure underage drinkers! If launched, the wine was slated to be a Chardonnay, a 2004 white Burgundy from Château de Messey in the Mâconnais.