1. Wine Movement
through Wartime and
Garrisons
“NOTHING BUT VULGAR VINEGAR” – ADOLF HITLER, AFTER TASTING A
GREAT FRENCH WINE.
1

2. Introduction
The war affected many throughout its course. But how did it affect
wine?
2

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, once the war was over.
3

4. 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.
4

5. WWI AND THE
GREAT
DEPRESSION
“An army marches on its
stomach” – Napoleon
Bonaparte
5

6. WWII 6

7. Yield
0
10
20
30
40
50
1939
1940
1941
1942
Yield
Yield
Wine Yield during WWII 7

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.
8

9. Heinz Bömer
This photo doesn‟t
have anything to
do with Heinz
Bömer, but they
are both rebellious
characters and I
admire that.
9

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.
10

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 Eagles Nest‟. A place
where he felt he could look out
over the surroundings like a
God.
Stolen Wine…
11

12. 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.
12

13. Recovery 13

14. The Future??? 14

15. The End 15

16. Notes
Introduction
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.
16

17. Notes Part 2
9.10. 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, and
he 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 Eagles
Nest‟. 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 the
19th 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.
17

18. 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/de43f0b8fe4b39d4aa43a5ad8d22efc
b_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/kwest19120600024/1411
6297-a-beautiful-sunset-over-a-barossa-vineyard.jpg
http://cdn.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/global-warming2.jpg
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