bilingual pun, alluding to the buttery taste of the Chardonnay being similar to that of the famous appellation d'origine controlee of Bâtard-Montrachet. The wine label now carries an apocryphal claim that it was "named after a British expression describing a particularly rich and full wine". The brand was introduced on the market in 1998. The production run for the first vintage was only 800 cases (about ten thousand 750 ml bottles), but as time passed, the brand became the largest-selling French Chardonnay in the United States. In 2006, 500,000 cases (equivalent to 6 million 750 ml bottles) of the brand were sold in the U.S. market. As of 2016, the brand is no longer sold in the U.K. Wine writers Oz Clarke and James May of the BBC television series Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure said this is "simply because these fun-named wines have gone out of fashion". However, about 420,000 cases (5 million 750 ml bottles) per year continue to be exported to the United States. Controversies The wine's arguably offensive name has helped to draw attention to the brand, but has also caused some problems in its marketing and distribution. The Advertising Standards Association of Iceland banned the mass-mailing of an advertisement circular that featured the wine on its cover and had been sent to 175,000 homes and a primary school. It said that the product's name was "unsuitable to be seen by young children and should not have featured on the outside covers of the circulars" that had been "distributed to homes in an un-targeted manner". The brand was banned in the American states of Texas and Ohio due to its name, but was reported to be available in 22 other U.S. states (as of 2009). References External links Fat Bastard official website Wine brands French wine