Wine Movement

through Wartime and

Garrisons

“NOTHING BUT VULGAR VINEGAR” – ADOLF HITLER, AFTER TASTING A

GREAT FRENCH WINE.

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IntroductionThe war affected many throughout its course. But how did it affect

wine?

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Vineyards were destroyed, wine was stolen

and traded unfairly. For many the war

meant fleeing their vineyards before the

Germans took over. People had to trade

their wines for food so that their families

would have enough to eat. Some buried

their best wines in their yards so that they

would have something to restart business

up, once the war was over.

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Phylloxera

any of several plant lice of the genus Phyllox

era, especially P.vitifoliae (grape phylloxer

a)

which attacks the leaves and roots ofgrape

vines.

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WWI AND THE

GREAT

DEPRESSION

“An army marches on its

stomach” – Napoleon

Bonaparte

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WWII 6

Yield

0

10

20

30

40

50

19391940

1941

1942

Yield

Yield

Wine Yield during WWII 7

To stretch the wine supply Vichy launched an anti-

alcoholism crusade. Certain days were „alcohol

free‟, forbidding bars and restaurants to serve alcohol on

these days. For the first time ever in France a minimum

drinking age of 14 was established. There was a push on

winegrowers to make more wine. They were told to use

undesirable or prohibited grape varieties and to water

down there wines. A 20% tax was put in place on

growers selling wine and a further 20% when a store sold

wine also. Wine became too expensive, so of course less

was sold. Wine merchants and winegrowers lost money.

A black market for wine was soon created. Vichy tried to

put a stop to this also. There was a constant struggle

between him and winemakers/winegrowers which

caused the black market to increase.

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Heinz Bömer

This photo doesn‟t

have anything to

do with Heinz

Bömer, but they

are both rebellious

characters and I

admire that.

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Hitler saw that wine was profitable. To get the best wine

he needed people who knew about wine. Men who had

made and sold it. He turned to the German wine trade.

Little did he know how much some of these men despised

him. The French called them the Weinführers. Their job was

to buy as much good French wine as possible and send it

back to Germany, where it would be resold internationally

for a huge profit to help pay for the war. Heinz Bömer was

probably the most notable of these men.

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In Champagne during the early

stages of the war, around 2

million bottles of wine were

stolen by German soldiers.

Some of these bottles were

found after the war in a cave in

the Bavarian Alps. This was one

of Hitler‟s homes, it was called

„The Eagles Nest‟. A place

where he felt he could look out

over the surroundings like a

God.

Stolen Wine…11

Benard de

Nonancourt“In front of him was a treasure connoisseurs

would die for, half a million bottles of the finest

wines ever made, wines such as Château Lafite-

Rothschild and Château Mouton-

Rothschild, Château Latour, Château d‟Yquem

and Romaneé Cont; stacked in wooden cases or

resting on racks that filled nearly every inch of the

cave. In one corner were rare ports and

cognacs, many from the 19th century. One

thing, however jumped out at de

Nonancourt, hundreds of cases of 1928 Salon

Champagne.” - Don & Pete Kladstrup.

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Recovery 13

The Future??? 14

The End15

NotesIntroduction

3. Vineyards were destroyed, wine was stolen and traded unfairly. For many the war meant fleeing their vineyards before the Germans took over. People had to trade their wines for food so that their families would have enough to eat. Some buried their best wines in their yards so that they would have something to restart business up again, once the war was over.

History

4. Before the war in the middle of the 19th century, Phylloxera struck Europe. This was the beginning of bad luck for winegrowers and winemakers, they had just recovered from this tiny insect when WWI began.

WWI and the Great Depression

5. “An army marches on its stomach” – Napoleon Bonaparte. During the First World War, French soldiers were issued with cases of Champagne to keep close beside them to keep their morale up. It was also a part of their diet because they needed about 3,000 calories a day, while the average person needs about 2,000 calories a day. Wine or beer made up 350 of those calories.

Throughout the course of WWI vineyards had been destroyed. Trenches ripped through them, artillery and mortar shells blew them up while chemical shells leaked into the soil – poisoning the soil for years to come. Just as the vineyards recovered from WWI, the Great Depression arose meaning winemakers could no longer afford to buy grapes from their growers, leading to bankruptcy. It seemed as though this was a never ending horror story for wine. 6. Then WWII came about and created another disaster for wine.

WWII

Both wine and food became very scarce during WWII. This was due to stealing and high demand from Hitler – even though he didn‟t like wine at all. 7.As you can see the yield during WWII dropped by nearly half over the space of 4 years. 8.To stretch the wine supply Vichy launched an anti-alcoholism crusade. Certain days were „alcohol free‟, forbidding bars and restaurants to serve alcohol on these days. For the first time ever in France a minimum drinking age of 14 was established. There was a push on winegrowers to make more wine. They were told to use undesirable or prohibited grape varieties and to water down there wines. A 20% tax was put in place on growers selling wine and a further 20% when a store sold wine also. Wine became too expensive, so of course less was sold. Wine merchants and winegrowers lost money. A black market for wine was soon created. Vichy tried to put a stop to this also. There was a constant struggle between him and winemakers/winegrowers which caused the black market to increase.

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Notes Part 29.10. Hitler saw that wine was profitable. To get the best wine he needed people who knew about wine. Men who had made and sold it. He turned to the German wine trade. Little did he know how much some of these men despised him. The French called them the Weinführers. Their job was to buy as much good French wine as possible and send it back to Germany, where it would be resold internationally for a huge profit to help pay for the war. Heinz Bömer was probably the most notable of these men.

He was head of Germanys largest wine importing firm, Reidmeister & Ulrichs and was friends with many of the French wine merchants and producers. He was also aware that one day, the war would be over and France would still be next to Germany. They would still have to live together. He was sent to Bordeaux. He knew that Germany would not win the war when he left, andhe left on his own terms. He refused to wear a uniform and wished to pay his own way there. Many of the Bordelais were worried that he would go after Bordeaux finest wines. However Heinz was a very clever man and knew that the Germans would not know the difference between fine wine and crap. So he relieved the Bordelais of their massive stocks of poor quality wine. He would plan fights with himself and a wine merchant as an act for the German economic offices. They would argue a price until they settled on one they had already arranged the previous night, it seemed to keep the offices happy. He also sent bottlers of Mouton ordinary wine and told them to glue Mouton labels on them instead. He completely went out of his way to make sure hardly any damage was done to the wine trade. Many of the Bordelais respected him for that. Not all of the Weinführers were like this but they all recognised the economic importance of France‟s wine industry. They made sure it survived the war, this was for their benefit also. When the war was over and they went home to their businesses, it was a must to have someone, the French mainly, to do business with again.

11. In Champagne during the early stages of the war, around 2 million bottles of wine were stolen by German soldiers. Some of these bottles were found after the war in a cave in the Bavarian Alps. This was one of Hitler‟s homes, it was called „The EaglesNest‟. A place where he felt he could look out over the surroundings like a God. Benard de Nonancourt was from Champagne and was one of the people who saw some of the wine being stolen, and was also there when it was found. 12.“In front of him was a treasure connoisseurs would die for, half a million bottles of the finest wines ever made, wines such as Château Lafite-Rothschild and Château Mouton-Rothschild, Château Latour, Château d‟Yquem and Romaneé Cont; stacked in wooden cases or resting on racks that filled nearly every inch of the cave. In one corner were rare ports and cognacs, many from the19th century. One thing, however jumped out at de Nonancourt, hundreds of cases of 1928 Salon Champagne.” - Don & Pete Kladstrup. This was not the only cave like this, many more were found also.

Recovery

13.When the war was over in 1945, reconstruction started. Europe was the fastest to recover because wine had always been a tradition. In 1959, profit for winemakers and winegrowers began again.

Looking to the future

14. Hopefully this never happens again. After doing this assignment my heart goes out to all the people affected by the war, and the years of hard work gone to waste. I think we have a brighter future ahead of us but who knows, maybe global warming could really affect the world and a whole other horror story will take place.

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ReferencesEden, L. (2011). “An army marches on its stomach": An analysis of the ancient soldier's diet. Retrieved from http://lilitheden.hubpages.com/hub/An-Army-Marches-On-Its-Stomach-An-Analysis-of-the-Ancient-Soldiers-Diet

Estreicher,S.K. (2004). Wine the past 7,400 years. Retrieved from http://www1.mpi-halle.mpg.de/~md_simul/data/special-data/wine-history.pdf

Kladstrup, D., & Kladstrup P. (2001). Wine and war: The battle for France‟s greatest treasure. Cornwall, Great Britain: T.J. (International) Ltd.

Pictures

http://www.worldcrunch.com/images/story/de43f0b8fe4b39d4aa43a5ad8d22efcb_georgia_wine.jpg

http://dxd8.com/wp-content/uploads/phylloxera.jpg

http://www.jazzitupinteriors.co.uk/acatalog/DD19020.jpg

http://images.wikia.com/fallout/images/d/d7/Nuclear_explosion.jpg

http://www.hangthebankers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Robber1.jpg

http://grethal.tumblr.com/

http://decanter.media.ipcdigital.co.uk/11150/0000010af/fac9/Bernard-de-Nonancourt.jpg

http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/kwest19/kwest191206/kwest19120600024/14116297-a-beautiful-sunset-over-a-barossa-vineyard.jpg

http://cdn.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/global-warming2.jpg

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