Wine & War: The Battle For France's Greatest Treasure
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In the vineyards, wine caves, and cellars of France as war and occupation came to the country winemakers acted heroically not only to save the best wines but to defend their way of life. These are the true stories of vignerons who sheltered Jewish refugees in their cellars and of winemakers who risked their lives to aid the resistance. They made chemicals in secret laboratories to fuel the resistance and fled from the Gestapo when arrests became imminent. There were treacheries too, as some of the nation's winemakers supported the Vichy regime or the Germans themselves and collaborated. Donald Kladstrup is a retired American network correspondent. He and his wife Petie have accumulated these fascinating stories, told with the pace and action that will fascinate fiction and non-fiction readers alike.
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Wine and War is a very easy read book in a fairly informal way that was for this reviewer is a little too less than academic in presentation, a style that I prefer when reading history. There is a great book out there on this subject in my opinion and someone such as Lizzie Collingham who wrote an exceptional book called The taste of War would have been ideal. The authors were of a journalistic background and it showed. The coverage was based mainly on the reminiscing of events of various and famous wine families, that unfortunately lacked a seamlessness in delivery that had me scurrying to look up the index as to where these people had been previously mentioned. This is not usually a problem for me, but the authors seemed to chop the stories told around a little too haphazardly.
Be that as it may, there is a lot to learn. That the Nazi's placed expert bureaucrat's called Weinführers into the various appellations to supervise the purchasing of France's great wines for transport back to Germany was a new one for me. Some were very good in their dealings with the French wine industry, others less so. That the US and British Intelligence tracked the enemy troop strength via shipment of wine back to Germany I had not previously known. Dietrich Von Choltitz's decision to not lay waste to Paris was made after a conversation with Pierre Taittinger I had no previous memory of reading.
Being a breezy anecdotal book it also had some moments of humour. The authors quote Wynford Vaughn-Thomas from a book called How I Liberated Burgundy. The French Military gave an unnamed US Colonel through Vaughn-Thomas a gift of fine wines from about 20 vineyards.
Vaughan-Thomas was quoted from his book as follows.........
‘These are the greatest wines of France. Guard them with care; rest them; then make sure they are room temperature before they are served.'
“Don't worry,' replied the American. ‘The doc knows all about this Frog liquor, and we'll invite the French over to drink it.'
The Americans held a lavish reception; trumpets were sounded and a column of waiters entered, bearing the precious burgundy on silver trays. But to his horror, Vaughan-Thomas saw that the wines were gently bubbling in the bottles. ‘We're in luck,' whispered an American colonel, ‘the doc's hotted up the stuff with medicinal alcohol.'
“The French were aghast. All eyes turned to General de Monsabert, he had led them, through North Africa and Italy, but this was the moment of crisis. He stood up, fixed his eyes on his staff and ordered them to take up their glasses.
‘To our comrades in arms, les braves Americans,' he declared, before draining his glass to the last drop. Then in a low voice that only his close neighbours could hear, he murmured: ‘Liberation, liberation, what crimes have been committed in thy name!'” Indeed!
Maybe not my type of presentation, but I do recommend this to anyone that has an interest in the subject.
