Were there additives put into wine during WW2?

I was planning to put together a tasting of wines produced during WW2. Since I started finding bottles, I have heard that some of the wines are suspect not only because lesser wines were put in bottles bound for Germany, but also some rather unpleasant additives. Looked for this in Wine and War, did not find any info, but curious does anyone know anything definitive?

What a great question. I would imagine that there must have been. OTOH, if the wine was meant for Germans who actually knew it, that would be a risky move.

But it makes sense. Some wine makers in Tokaj told me that they had to do that to meet the quotas demanded by the Soviets. They didn’t use anything toxic, but there was more than grape juice in some of the bottles.

French urine.

Interesting. I’m sure you could study this in your spare time through spectroscopy runs. Might need to return to school to learn how, but we all need something to do in retirement.

Not a chance. My interest lies in whether or not to do the tasting, not the intellectual question however interesting. I have other plans for retirement, and anything to do with lenses will involve looking up into the sky.

I was told a Champagne house had a bottling line run through the men’s room when the wine was meant for the Nazis.

I remember reading about the same thing in Wine and War. Carpet dust/dirt I think was one of the additives.

I’ve heard rumors of stuff being added as well, but have no proof other than rumors over the years. So I too am curious what the real information is related to this.

Such adulteration had to be done very secretively and informally. After all, if a chateau or merchant were caught with devices for obviously doing so, workers—innocent or not—might be summarily rounded up to pay with their lives. In a war, almost nothing is ruled out from happening.

It probably happened, but documentation of it happening, might be impossible to find.

But if you did it, after the war wouldn’t you be advertising it from the rooftops? Once you got away with it, you’d be a national hero.

I have other plans for retirement, and anything to do with lenses will involve looking up into the sky.

Or, if you live in a high-rise, into windows far away.

Advertising the adulteration of SOME of your wines might not be ideal, from a brand perspective.

Imagine if my place advertised a Gweilo Special. Would you really want to patronize, even if not gweilo?