Don Kladstrup Quotes

#1. Bernard was stunned. He knew the Germans had hauled away millions of bottles of wine from his country; he had even seen some of it stolen from the village where he once worked, but a wine cellar on top of a mountain seemed incredible. To be the one who would open it was almost overwhelming.

Don Kladstrup

#2. As in 1914, the government mounted an extraordinary campaign to help. Winegrowers were granted delays in being called to active duty, military labor detachments were sent to the vineyards and farm horses of small growers were not to be requisitioned until the harvest was completed.

Don Kladstrup

#3. Hitler's cave was much more than a wine cellar; it was a symbol of cruelty and greed, of Nazi Germany's hunger for wealth and riches.

Don Kladstrup

#4. He always said that when you are hiring someone, look at the quality of the person. It is very easy to find a good technician; it's much harder and more important to have a good person. ~ Robert Drouhin repeating what his father Maurice told him

Don Kladstrup

#5. To be a Frenchman means to fight for your country and its wine," he said.

Don Kladstrup

#6. women, in some parts of France, were barred from the chai, or winery, during harvesttime. Their presence, according to superstition, would turn the wine sour.

Don Kladstrup

#7. Wine makes us proud of our past," said one official. "It gives us courage and hope." How else to explain why vignerons in Champagne rushed into their vineyards to harvest the 1915 vintage even as artillery shells were falling all around?

Don Kladstrup

#8. We know our land was here before we came and that it will be here long after we are gone. With our wine, we have survived wars, the Revolution and phylloxera. Each harvest renews promises made in the spring. We live with the continuing cycle. This gives us a taste of eternity.

Don Kladstrup

#9. You had to deal with a situation you did not want. Once you are defeated, you have to do what you are told.

Don Kladstrup

#10. The glorious hours sound not just for heroic action on the battlefield but also for those activities that occur in daily life, for it is when war is over that a soldier's heart and character are also revealed.

Don Kladstrup