If you read this blog you know how much I enjoy wine. You probably also realize from my book reviews how much I love history. And yes, I’ve read lots of history books about wine.
But nothing quite like Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure
The book looks at how farmers made do without many the resources necessary for a vineyard, from copper sulfite to tractors (or even horses, which were often confiscated by the Nazis). There was intense labor shortage as many of the French men were in prisoner of war camps or drafted by the Nazis and sent to the Eastern Front. Plus the central economic planning team of the Nazis and Vichy France were often unhelpful to the wine industry.
But most of all the book looks at how the vineyards managed to survive Nazi plundering. They hid their best wines in caves, relabeled bad wines into good ones (and sold it to the Germans), partnered with the Resistance, shipped empty bottles to Berlin, raided railcars filled with wine destined for Germany, and generally befuddled, deceived and ignored many of the Nazi leaders.
In the midst of all that they hid Jews in their cellars, saved downed Allied pilots, reported troop movements to London, and stole critical farming components from army bases. As the Nazis retreated, the French wineries even negotiated ways to save the best vineyards or keep key infrastructures unharmed (such as talking the German overseer of Bordeaux NOT to destroy the port before abandoning the city). The book culminates with the French army arriving at the famed hideout of Hitler, Eagle’s Nest, and finding hundreds of thousands of stolen French wine bottles in the cellars.
It’s a fun book if you love history and wine. If you love World War II history, it’s especially fun. I’m not a big fan of French wine, but after reading this book I’m a big fan of the French wineries and their history of resistance. Vive la France!
