This book review was written by Eugene Kernes
“German authorities, however, had
made a mistake. The weinführers were,
indeed, wine merchants and wine experts, but they were much more than
that. They also were friends of many
French wine producers and merchants.
Their connection through generations of doing business together had long
since transcended commercial matters; they had trained in each other’s firms
and spoke each other’s language fluently.
They were even godfathers to each other’s children.” – Don
Kladstrup, and Petie Kladstrup, Chapter 3: The Weinführers, Page 60
“In fact, the Resistance was doing a great deal more. It had picked up on the fact that champagne
shipments were providing significant military intelligence. Through them, they could tell where the
Germans were preparing a major military offensive. They first became aware of this when the
Germans, in 1940, ordered tens of thousands of bottles to be sent to Romania,
where, officially, there was only a small German mission. Within a few days, Romania was invaded by the
German army. Afterward, bottles of bubbly
were distributed to all the troops, a way of saying to the soldiers that “the Führer
thinks of his men first.”” – Don Kladstrup, and Petie Kladstrup, Chapter 3: The
Weinführers, Pages 85-86
“It was a plight facing nearly every winegrower, and the
problems extended to their cellars as well.
Wines that had lain in wooden casks for five years desperately needed
bottling, but that was impossible because there was a bottle shortage. For many wines, it was already too late. They had dried out, lost their fruit and were
undrinkable. The casks in which they had
been aging were ruined as well. Some had
become moldy from overuse, while others were damaged when overzealous Vichy
inspectors poured oil into them to prevent vignerons from withholding
their industrial alcohol quota.” – Don Kladstrup, and Petie Kladstrup, Chapter
11: I Came Home Not Young Anymore, Page 226
Is This An Overview?
For France, wine is more than a commercial product. Wine is part of French cultural
heritage. Wine kept people’s morale up
even during the harshest of times. As
war loomed, winegrowers were granted a delay in being called to active
duty. Equipment was not requisitioned
until the harvest was complete.
France was plundered after France surrendered to
Germany. Wines were looted. Germany wanted to prevent the looting, as the
looting hurt requisitions for military purposes. To prevent wine plundering, and to direct
wine production, Germany created the weinführers. Weinführers were wine merchants in
uniform. What Germany’s leadership did
not know, was that the weinführers had connections with the French wine
producers and merchants. Connections
beyond the commercial. Wine producers
and merchants trained together, and had familial relations.
French wine merchants were forced to sell wine only to
Germany, at terrible prices. But the
weinführers did what was possible to enable wine producers to continue business
as normal. Weinführers tried to keep
balance between the French and Germans, by not making each too angry. Weinführers tried to make sure that the wine
merchants had the necessary supplies, even during a time of shortages. Weinführers allowed poor-quality wine to be
sold to Germany. Poor-quality wine that
would have otherwise been unsold on the regular market.
Even with weinführers trying to keep production going, there
was a drastic reduction in wine production.
There was a shortage of labor, horses, chemicals, and other resources
that prevented production. Some
producers could not get wine to the market because Germans seized the available
trucks. Producers that had trucks, could
not use the trucks due to gasoline rations.
Part of wine production was to be requisitioned for industrial
alcohol. To get the industrial alcohol,
officials poured heating oil into barrels to adulterate the wine, which
prevented the wine from consumption.
Wine was part of the Resistance movement. To protect valuable wine, wine was hidden
behind fake walls and by other means.
French restaurants sold wine spiked with carpet dust to Germans, to make
the wine appear old and rare. Wine
shipments provided military intelligence to the Resistance, as the location and
amount of ordered wine indicated German troop movements. Wine producers helped Resistance members
travel between locations, in wine barrels.
Caveats?
As the authors note, this is not a book about wine or
war. There is limited information on
wine production and details of the war.
This book is about how wine affected the war effort.
