Wine Law

that the fault lay entirely with the troops. The military doctrine of the time viewed war as an exercise in purification and salvation, enabling an elite to consolidate their power to combat the advent of democracy in France. Consequently, failure could only be attributed to the inadequacy of the troops and not to the fallibility of the generals. In other words, according to Joffre, the failure of the 15 th Army Corps, which was made up of soldiers from Marseilles and Montpellier, was due to individual shortcomings. Soldiers were represented as “good-for-nothing”, devious and undisciplined. For the most part, they were winegrowers or the sons of winegrowers from the “Red Midi” 8 , who were considered by the military doctors at the time as suffering from “alcoholic impairment”. They were accused of consuming too much wine. For the first time, wine was viewed from a critical angle when consumed beyond regulatory rations and exceeding reasonable consumption 9 . In September 1914, in an attempt to restore discipline, and to dispel the disillusionment of the soldiers, the military authorities decided to encourage the consumption of wine on a large scale. The rations were increased and consequently, wine became a means of allaying fear and suffering; a tool to aid the country in time of war 10 . At the end of World War I, the debate on wine quality returned centre stage, with an urgent need to clarify the industry, put an end to artificial wines and protect appellations of origin. The law of 6 May 1919 on the protection of origin was a legal cornerstone, the importance of which is recognised today. Under the decree of 15 May 1936, the first six appellations of wine origin were created: Arbois, Tavel, Cognac, Cassis, Monbazillac and Châteauneuf-du- Pape 11 . It is now apparent that these were the first hygienic measures underpinning the early anti- alcoholic movement which recognised that alcohol was the cause of social unhappiness and working-class poverty. The law of 23 January 1873 was aimed at eliminating public 8 Revolt in the wine region in 1907; soldiers from these regions are seen more as revolutionary mutineers and deserters than as enlisted men. 9 Ch. Lucand, Le Pinard des Poilus, A history of wine in France during the Great War (1914-1918) Univ. of Dijon, 2015 p. 39 to 41 10 Ch. Lucand, cited above, p.51 et seq. 11 J. C. Portes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, First AOC in France, ed. ODG Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 2016