FROM OUR EDITORS

The Nazis should have realized that the French would protect their Bordeaux better than they did their eastern frontier. In 1940, almost as soon as Paris fell, the German leadership began pillaging one of the country's great national treasures: its wine. For the French, this was unthinkable. Wine was, as the Kladstrups explain, more than a beverage, more than a cultural tradition -- it was France itself. As a result, the wine producers of Burgundy and Alsace devised ploys that no paranoid Gestapo chief ever anticipated.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The remarkable untold story of France’s courageous, clever vinters who protected and rescued the country’s most treasured commodity from German plunder during World War II.

"To be a Frenchman means to fight for your country and its wine."
–Claude Terrail, owner, Restaurant La Tour d’Argent

In 1940, France fell to the Nazis and almost immediately the German army began a campaign of pillaging one of the assets the French hold most dear: their wine. Like others in the French Resistance, winemakers mobilized to oppose their occupiers, but the tale of their extraordinary efforts has remained largely unknown–until now. This is the thrilling and harrowing story of the French wine producers who undertook ingenious, daring measures to save their cherished crops and bottles as the Germans closed in on them. Wine and War illuminates a compelling, little-known chapter of history, and stands as a tribute to extraordinary individuals who waged a battle that, in a very real way, saved the spirit of France.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Both contributors to Wine Spectator, the Kladstrups Don, a distinguished journalist and former TV news correspondent, and his wife, Petie, a freelance writer have unearthed and compiled an array of facts and anecdotes about the significance of French wine to the French and to their enemies and the role of French winemakers during WWII. Basing their account on interviews with survivors and other research, the authors focus on the activities of five winemaking families in Burgundy, Alsace, Champagne, Bordeaux and the Loire Valley. When France fell to Hitler, the Reich sent German wine merchants (whom the French referred to as weinf hrers) to buy as much good French wine as possible and resell it at a large profit. Some Frenchmen, such as Louis Eschenauer (who, after the war, was tried for economic collaboration with the enemy, found guilty and sent to prison), were more than willing to do business with the enemy, but most not only resisted German occupation but also refused to give up their prized vintages to the Germans. For example, though displaced from their ch teau by German soldiers, the Miaihles family made painstaking efforts first to relocate and then to hide some Jewish friends and later helped them escape to Argentina. To get even with the Germans who stole his wine, Jean-Michel Chevreau siphoned wine from barrels that were being shipped to Germany and refilled them with water. Although their book makes for an engaging read, the Kladstrups have organized their material in a rambling manner, which, unfortunately, makes the many names and events discussed easy to confuse. (May 15) Forecast: There will be major review coverage; the authors will make appearances in the San Francisco Bay Area and NPR's Morning Edition has fallen into line. Yet one wonders whether any but the most dedicated oenophiles will care for a book-length account of how France's wines were saved from the Nazis. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Husband-and-wife journalists and contributors to Wine Spectator, the Kladstrups recount the dangerous and daring exploits of those who fought to keep France's greatest treasure out of the hands of the Nazis. Whether they were fobbing off inferior wines on the Germans, hiding precious vintages behind hastily constructed walls, sabotaging shipments being sent out of France, or even sneaking people out of the country in wine barrels, the French proved to be remarkably versatile when it came to protecting their beloved wine. The authors craft a compelling read that shifts back and forth between individual tales of bravery, including those of five prominent wine-making families, and the bigger story of how World War II affected the French wine industry. This history should prove popular with readers who appreciated other books detailing the Nazis' looting of treasures, such as Tom Bower's Nazi Gold (LJ 5/15/97) and Hector Feliciano's The Lost Museum (LJ 8/97). Recommended for public and academic libraries. John Charles, Scottsdale P.L., AZ Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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