On May 12th, 1940 the German troops began the occupation of France.
All French inscriptions were banned from Alsace wine labels: only German was permitted.
The Wehrmacht built up reserves of Table Wine
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Collection Willy Trepp, Les Avanchets |
and Champagne for its troops in France. The Champagne reserves were made out of well-known brands.
(To see other Champagne labels reserved to the German troops click the label)
All labels had a bilingual (German and French) superscription 'Wehrmachts- Marketenderware Verkauf im freien Handel verboten' and 'Réservé à la Wehrmacht Achat et revente interdits'.
After the Bordeaux armistice of June 22, 1940, General De Gaulle transfers to London and Maréchal Philippe Pétain establishes on French territory a French government recognized by the Nazi regime, the Vichy Regime.
In 1942 the Prefect of Burgundy requested the 'Hospices de Beaune' a vineyard to be donated to Maréchal Pétain. The 'Hospices' selected a 51 acres vineyard in the Premier Cru "Les Theurons". They charged 120,000 Francs for it. The first vintage of the "Clos du Maréchal Pétain" was 1942 and the relative label was probably printed in 1943.
It was followed by the 1943 vintage. Afterwards naming a cuvee after Maréchal Pétain became unpopular. The vineyard was sequestrated in 1946 like all properties of the Maréchal.
In 1944 the Allied Forces began the Liberation of France. The Allied troops, as the German ones, built up a personal Champagne reserve often including the same brands already enjoyed by the German troops and consistently had bilingual inscriptions 'Reserved for Allied Armies' and 'Achat et revente interdits'.
(To see other Champagne labels reserved to the Allied troops click the label)