What exactly is wine? Is it just a nose full of aromas, some of them from grapes, some of them from fermentation, and some from aging, whether it's in an oak barrel, or in a stainless steel tank, in a concrete container, or even in the bottle itself? Is it the flavors of flowers or spice or berries, or even smoke in some cases? Is it an alcoholic beverage to relax us and soothe our frazzled nerves at the end of a long, hard day at the salt mines? Or is it something more?
I love wine from all over the world. Washington Wines are the fracking bomb, and not just because I live in Washington, they really, really, really are worthy of the title "world-class wines" now. California wines are always enjoyable. German whites are refreshing and delicious, whether they're of the sweet or dry variety. Australian wines are muscular, in-your-face, and high in alcohol. Italian wines are all wonderful, whether they're from northern Italy, southern Italy, from the central region, or from one of the islands off the mainland. Spanish wines are yummy with Spanish foods, whether they're one of the lighter reds, or one of the dry or sweet Sherries from the country.
And then there are French wines. I enjoy wines from all of the regions of France. But I've always wondered why the French are so snobby about their wines. How can they charge so much for some of their wines from say, the Loire Valley, or the Bordeaux region? What makes them so fracking special I've often wondered. I get it now.
I've been reading a fascinating book called "Wine & War" by Don and Petie Kladstrup. The back of the book says it's the remarkable untold story of France's courageous, clever vintners who protected and rescued the country's most treasured commodity from German plunder during World War II. They weren't kidding.
This book describes how the Nazis and the German army pillaged one of the assets the French hold most dear: their wine. The Germans, under Hilter's orders, systemically stole the most expensive and precious wines from Champagne, the Loire, Burgundy, and Bordeaux. The Nazi bastards banned the French people from eating in their own best restaurants, booted them out of their own Chateaus, bombed their vineyards, burned their vineyards and villages. The rotten Nazis put thousands of French winemakers and vineyard owners in POW camps. They even forced them to move to Germany and join the German army to supress and imprison their own people. The craziest thing of all is Hitler didn't even like wine!! He thought wine tasted like vinegar and preferred beer. But that didn't stop him from ordering thousands of bottles of France's most precious wines to be taken and then squirreled away in his secret hiding place. The place, the cave, where all of this wonderful wine was taken and hidden away was called the Eagle's Nest on top of the Obersalzburg mountain. The Eagle's Nest was situated several thousand feet above what looked like a typical chalet called the Berghof. The chalet was anything but typical. It was huge and filled with famous art from all over the world. But the real jewels of this Alpine fortress was the wine. In the wine cave that was called the Eagle's Nest, there were a half a million bottles of the finest wines ever made such as Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, Chateau Latour, Chateau d'Yquem, and Romanee-Conti, stacked in wooden cases or resting on racks that filled every inch of the cave. In one corner were rare ports and cognacs, many from the nineteenth century. The crowning glory of this incredible stash were the hundreds of cases of 1928 Salon champagne.
The French winemakers, vineyard owners, and everyone else knew that their future depended on preserving their vineyards, their wines that were already in bottle, and their winemaking knowledge. They risked and sacrificed their lives to keep their vineyards and their best vintages intact. They tricked the Germans by putting the best labels on wine that was really just plonk, while burying their best bottles of wine in their vineyards, and walling them up behind brick in their wine cellars in their Chateaus, and in the wine cellars of their restaurants. The French went through hell and back again to protect their most valuable asset from the enemy. Many French people died, some quickly by firing squad, others slowly and painfully from starvation and from the gas chambers. But they never quit trying to protect their vineyards, their wines, their history.
I hadn't read "Wine & War" yet when I purchased a very special bottle of wine, vintage 1999, from the Pomerol region from Bordeaux as a gift for my daughter and son-in-law as a wedding present a few months ago. My kids opened that bottle of wine one night while playing dominoes with some good friends and they shared that very, very special wedding present with their friends. I asked them how the wine tasted and they all agreed that it was very, very good. I'm happy they enjoyed it, and that they had good friends to enjoy it with.
It made me wonder though, if they'd shared a $10 bottle of wine from the local grocery store, would they have enjoyed the less expensive bottle of wine less than the expensive 1999 Bordeaux wine that they shared with their friends? Or does the joy of drinking wine come from sharing the bottle with someone you care about? I think I know the answer to that question.
The next time you open a bottle of wine, think about what the winemaker might have gone through to make that wine. Think about what past wars might have been fought on the very ground where those vines now grow. Think about how old the vines are and what fossils from eras past that are contributing to the terrior (the soil) of that glass of wine you're enjoying. Think about it and wonder. I do.
I love wine from all over the world. Washington Wines are the fracking bomb, and not just because I live in Washington, they really, really, really are worthy of the title "world-class wines" now. California wines are always enjoyable. German whites are refreshing and delicious, whether they're of the sweet or dry variety. Australian wines are muscular, in-your-face, and high in alcohol. Italian wines are all wonderful, whether they're from northern Italy, southern Italy, from the central region, or from one of the islands off the mainland. Spanish wines are yummy with Spanish foods, whether they're one of the lighter reds, or one of the dry or sweet Sherries from the country.
And then there are French wines. I enjoy wines from all of the regions of France. But I've always wondered why the French are so snobby about their wines. How can they charge so much for some of their wines from say, the Loire Valley, or the Bordeaux region? What makes them so fracking special I've often wondered. I get it now.
I've been reading a fascinating book called "Wine & War" by Don and Petie Kladstrup. The back of the book says it's the remarkable untold story of France's courageous, clever vintners who protected and rescued the country's most treasured commodity from German plunder during World War II. They weren't kidding.
This book describes how the Nazis and the German army pillaged one of the assets the French hold most dear: their wine. The Germans, under Hilter's orders, systemically stole the most expensive and precious wines from Champagne, the Loire, Burgundy, and Bordeaux. The Nazi bastards banned the French people from eating in their own best restaurants, booted them out of their own Chateaus, bombed their vineyards, burned their vineyards and villages. The rotten Nazis put thousands of French winemakers and vineyard owners in POW camps. They even forced them to move to Germany and join the German army to supress and imprison their own people. The craziest thing of all is Hitler didn't even like wine!! He thought wine tasted like vinegar and preferred beer. But that didn't stop him from ordering thousands of bottles of France's most precious wines to be taken and then squirreled away in his secret hiding place. The place, the cave, where all of this wonderful wine was taken and hidden away was called the Eagle's Nest on top of the Obersalzburg mountain. The Eagle's Nest was situated several thousand feet above what looked like a typical chalet called the Berghof. The chalet was anything but typical. It was huge and filled with famous art from all over the world. But the real jewels of this Alpine fortress was the wine. In the wine cave that was called the Eagle's Nest, there were a half a million bottles of the finest wines ever made such as Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, Chateau Latour, Chateau d'Yquem, and Romanee-Conti, stacked in wooden cases or resting on racks that filled every inch of the cave. In one corner were rare ports and cognacs, many from the nineteenth century. The crowning glory of this incredible stash were the hundreds of cases of 1928 Salon champagne.
The French winemakers, vineyard owners, and everyone else knew that their future depended on preserving their vineyards, their wines that were already in bottle, and their winemaking knowledge. They risked and sacrificed their lives to keep their vineyards and their best vintages intact. They tricked the Germans by putting the best labels on wine that was really just plonk, while burying their best bottles of wine in their vineyards, and walling them up behind brick in their wine cellars in their Chateaus, and in the wine cellars of their restaurants. The French went through hell and back again to protect their most valuable asset from the enemy. Many French people died, some quickly by firing squad, others slowly and painfully from starvation and from the gas chambers. But they never quit trying to protect their vineyards, their wines, their history.
I hadn't read "Wine & War" yet when I purchased a very special bottle of wine, vintage 1999, from the Pomerol region from Bordeaux as a gift for my daughter and son-in-law as a wedding present a few months ago. My kids opened that bottle of wine one night while playing dominoes with some good friends and they shared that very, very special wedding present with their friends. I asked them how the wine tasted and they all agreed that it was very, very good. I'm happy they enjoyed it, and that they had good friends to enjoy it with.
It made me wonder though, if they'd shared a $10 bottle of wine from the local grocery store, would they have enjoyed the less expensive bottle of wine less than the expensive 1999 Bordeaux wine that they shared with their friends? Or does the joy of drinking wine come from sharing the bottle with someone you care about? I think I know the answer to that question.
The next time you open a bottle of wine, think about what the winemaker might have gone through to make that wine. Think about what past wars might have been fought on the very ground where those vines now grow. Think about how old the vines are and what fossils from eras past that are contributing to the terrior (the soil) of that glass of wine you're enjoying. Think about it and wonder. I do.
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