Algerian wine
Encyclopedia
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
made from the North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
n country of Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. While not a significant force on the world's wine market today, Algeria has played an important role in the history of wine
History of wine
The history of wine spans thousands of years and is closely intertwined with the history of agriculture, cuisine, civilization and humanity itself...
. Algeria's viticultural
Viticulture
Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...
history dates back to its settlement by the Phoenicians and continued under Algeria's rule by the Roman empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Just prior to the Algerian War of Independence
Algerian War of Independence
The Algerian War was a conflict between France and Algerian independence movements from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria's gaining its independence from France...
, Algerian wine (along with the production of Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
) accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total international wine trade. With as much land under vine as the countries of Germany and South Africa, Algeria continues to maintain a wine industry with over 70 wineries in operation.
History
The roots of Algerian winemakingWinemaking
Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
can be traced to the settlement of the Phoenicians and the influences of nearby Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
. Under Roman rule, winemaking continued until the Muslim conquests
Muslim conquests
Muslim conquests also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests, began with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He established a new unified polity in the Arabian Peninsula which under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates saw a century of rapid expansion of Muslim power.They...
of North Africa in the 7th and 8th centuries. During this time the wine industry was severely limited due to the prohibition of alcohol under Islamic dietary laws
Islamic dietary laws
Islamic dietary laws provide direction on what is to be considered clean and unclean regarding diet and related issues.-Overview:Islamic jurisprudence specifies which foods are ' and which are '...
. When Algeria came under French rule
French rule in Algeria
French Algeria lasted from 1830 to 1962, under a variety of governmental systems. From 1848 until independence, the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria was administered as an integral part of France, much like Corsica and Réunion are to this day. The vast arid interior of Algeria, like the rest...
in 1830 vineyards were replanted in order to serve the needs of the local pied-noir
Pied-noir
Pied-Noir , plural Pieds-Noirs, pronounced , is a term referring to French citizens of various origins who lived in French Algeria before independence....
. When the phylloxera epidemic
Great French Wine Blight
The Great French Wine Blight was a severe blight of the mid-19th century that destroyed many of the vineyards in France and laid to waste the wine industry...
destroyed the French vineyard
French wine
French wine is produced in several regions throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France has the world's second-largest total vineyard area, behind Spain, and is in the position of being the world's largest wine producer...
s in the mid-19th century, Algerian wine exports into France filled the void. An influx of winemakers from the German wine
German wine
German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of the German wine production is situated in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where 6 of the 13 regions ...
region of Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
brought with them more modern winemaking techniques and helped to increase the overall quality of Algeria wine. Even after the French resumed normal levels of wine production, Algerian wine was still widely used in regions like the Languedoc
Languedoc wine
Languedoc - Roussillon wine, including the vin de pays labeled Vin de Pays d'Oc, is produced in southern France. While "Languedoc" can refer to a specific historic region of France and Northern Catalonia, usage since the 20th century has primarily referred to the northern part of the...
as a blending component that added color and strength to the wines.
The high point of the Algerian wine industry came in the late 1930s when over 4000 square kilometres (1,544.4 sq mi) was producing more 2100 millilitre (0.554761278296788 US gal) of wine. By the 1950s, together with Tunisia and Morocco, Algeria wine accounted for nearly two thirds of the wine that was internationally traded. To a large extent, Algerian red wine was used for blending with red wine from the south of France, since Algerian wine was deeper in colour and higher in alcohol than the French wines produced from Aramon
Aramon (grape)
Aramon or Aramon Noir is a variety of red wine grape grown primarily in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France. Between the late 19th century and the 1960s, it was France's most grown grape variety, but plantings of Aramon have been in continuous decline since the mid-20th century...
grapes. The dominant grape variety in Algeria at this time was Carignan, which only overtook Aramon in southern France in the 1960s.
By the time of Algerian independence in 1962, over a dozen areas were granted Vin Délimité de Qualité Superieure (VDQS) status by the French. Following independence, the wine industry was hard hit by the loss of the French settlers and the French army who provided a sizable domestic market for the wine. France also greatly reduced the amount of exports it was accepting, forcing Algerian wineries to look elsewhere for a market. In 1969, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
agreed to buy 500 millilitre (0.132086018642092 US gal) a year till 1975 at prices far below market value for the wines. Many Algerian government officials thought it was inappropriate for an Islamic country to be so economically dependent on alcohol production and encouraged vineyard owners to convert their land into other agricultural crops such as cereal
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
or table grape
Table grape
Table grapes are grapes intended for consumption while they are fresh, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, juice production, or for drying into raisins....
s. Urban expansion
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
in areas such as the fertile Mitidja plain behind Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
further reduced the number of vineyards in Algeria. At the turn of the 21st century, efforts were underway to revive the Algerian wine industry but so far very little Algerian wine is on the international market.
Climate and wine regions
All of Algeria's vineyards are located in the Hauts Plateaux region extending towards the Moroccan border. Bordering the seaMediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, this region has a typical Mediterranean climate with mild winters and dry, hot summers and is very similar to the southern wine regions
Spanish wine regions
The mainstream quality wine regions in Spain are referred to as Denominaciones de Origen and the wine they produce is regulated for quality according to specific laws....
of Spain. Rainfall averages around 600 millimetres (23.6 in) in the regions east of Algiers to 400 millimetres (15.7 in) in the western regions closer to Morocco. The main wine producing areas are located in the provinces of Aïn Témouchent
Aïn Témouchent Province
Aïn Témouchent is a province in northwestern Algeria, named after its capital: Aïn Témouchent.-Administrative divisions:It is made up of 8 districts and 28 municipalities.The districts are:# Aïn Kihel# Aïn Larbaâ# Aïn Témouchent...
, Mascara
Mascara Province
Mascara is a province in Algeria. There was an earthquake in Mascara City on 18 August 1994 - 5.6 on the Richter scale - which killed 171 people. It was named after its capital, whose name means "military garrison" in Arabic, and which is unrelated to "Mascara", the cosmetic...
, Mostaganem
Mostaganem Province
Mostaganem is a province of Algeria. The capital is Mostaganem. Other localities include Ain Nouissi, Ain Tadles, Tazgait and Stidia.-Administrative divisions:...
, Sidi Bel Abbès
Sidi Bel Abbès Province
Sidi Bel Abbès is one of the provinces of Algeria. Its name is derived from the name of its capital, the city of Sidi Bel Abbès. It is situated in the northwestern part of the country.-Administrative divisions:...
and Tlemcen
Tlemcen Province
Tlemcen is a province in northwestern Algeria. The Tlemcen National Park is located there.-Administrative divisions:The province is divided into 20 districts , which are further divided into 53 communes or municipalities....
. Algeria's Office National de Commercialisation des Produits Viti-vinicoles (ONCV) list seven quality wine production zones that may appear on Algerian wine label
Wine label
Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it...
s.
- Coteaux de Tlemcen
- Monts du Tessalah
- Coteaux de Mascara
- Dahra hills
- Coteaux du Zaccar
- MédéaMedeaMedea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
- Aïn Bessem Bouria
Grapes and wine
During the peak of Algerian wine production, the main grapes of the region was Carignan, CinsautCinsaut
Cinsaut or Cinsault is a red wine grape, whose heat tolerance and productivity make it important in Languedoc-Roussillon and the former French colonies of Algeria and Morocco...
and Alicante Bouschet
Alicante Bouschet
Alicante Bouschet or Alicante Henri Bouschet is a wine grape variety that has been widely cultivated since 1866. It is a cross of Petit Bouschet and Grenache. Alicante is a teinturier, a grape with red flesh. It is one of the few teinturier grapes that belong to the Vitis vinifera species...
. Despite not having Pinot noir
Pinot Noir
Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...
or otherwise resembling Burgundian wine, blends of these grapes were often labeled as burgundy. In recent times, Clairette
Clairette
-People:*Clairette , a French-Canadian actress and singer-Wines:*Clairette de Die AOC, a French sparkling wine appellation*Clairette blanche, a white grape variety* Clairette Ronde, synonym for the grape variety Trebbiano...
and Ugni blanc have become the dominate grape varieties with some smaller plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
, Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
, Merlot
Merlot
Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...
, Mouvedre and Syrah. Algerian wines are characterized by their overripe fruit, high alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
and low acidity. The grapes often go through a short fermentation
Fermentation (wine)
The process of fermentation in wine turns grape juice into an alcoholic beverage. During fermentation, yeast interact with sugars in the juice to create ethanol, commonly known as ethyl alcohol, and carbon dioxide...
process and are bottled after little to no oak aging.