I got a call from Disney World executive offices today regarding my inquiry into the decision to use California wine in the Oklahoma exhibit at the upcoming Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. The response was kind of interesting.

Let me back up.

It started when I read a post at Oklahoma Wine News:

At a cost of over $500,000 in Oklahoma State Taxpayer’s money, some Oklahoma businesses will enjoy being the first state to be invited by the Walt Disney World Resort to showcase its cuisine and heritage at a display area during the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. This once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity has produced a great deal of excitement in Sooner country.

And he’s right. With the exception of Oklahoma’s winemakers.

Oklahoma’s wineries cant produce enough wine in such a short time for the visitors expected, Commerce and Tourism Secretary Natalie Shirley said. Dick Sias, an Oklahoman and owner of Joullian Vineyards of Carmel Valley, Calif., will provide wine that will be given away or sold at Oklahoma’s display, called the Oklahoma Experience.

Hmmm… the folks at Oklahoma Wine News wonder where Ms. Shirley got her information.

The idea that the dozens of Oklahoma wineries cannot supply a few thousand cases of wine to this event is absurd. I don’t know where she got her information, but she obviously didn’t try contacting Oklahoma’s wineries or OGGWMA.

So I called the OK Commerce Dept. and spoke with a public information officer. She said the decision was by Disney and understood it had to do with them unable to get enough Oklahoma wines through Florida distributors. It was also her belief that the wine was the only non-Oklahoma item to be offered at the state display. So…

I got a call from Disney World executive offices today regarding my inquiry about the decision to use California wine in the Oklahoma exhibit of the upcoming Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. The response was kind of interesting.

Janelle told me she had “researched” my question and found that the decision to stock California wine at the Oklahoma exhibit was made by the state. In fact, since the State of Oklahoma is sponsoring the exhibit (to the tune of $1.2 million, $.5 million by Oklahoma taxpayers), the state chooses all the products offered.

I think I’ll call Ms. Shirley’s office Monday. Stay tuned.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 17th, 2007 at 2:22 pm and is filed under Culture, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.