wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
history of wine
Wine has been produced for thousands of years, with evidence of ancient wine production in Georgia from BC (the earliest known traces of wine),
West Azerbaijan province of Iran from BC, Armenia from BC (large-scale production), and Sicil ...
. Algeria's
viticultural
Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...
history dates back to its settlement by the
Phoenicians
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...
and continued under the
Roman empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
. Just prior to the
Algerian War of Independence
The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...
(1954-1962), Algerian wine (along with that of
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
and
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
) accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total international wine trade. With as much land under vineyards 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
winemaking
Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and ...
can be traced to the settlement of the Phoenicians and the influences of nearby
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the cla ...
. Under Roman rule, winemaking continued until its decline in the aftermath of the
Muslim conquest
The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He esta ...
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 are dietary laws that Muslims follow. Islamic jurisprudence specifies which foods are '' '' (, "lawful") and which are '' '' (, "unlawful"). The dietary laws are found in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, as well as in col ...
. When Algeria came under French rule in 1830 vineyards were replanted in order to serve the needs of the local '' pieds-noir''. When the
phylloxera epidemic
The Great French Wine Blight was a severe blight of the mid-19th century that destroyed many of the vineyards in France and laid waste to the wine industry. It was caused by an aphid that originated in North America and was carried across the Atl ...
destroyed the French vineyards in the mid-19th century, Algerian wine exports into France filled the void. An influx of winemakers from the
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 Ancient Rome, Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of German wine is produced in the state of Rhine ...
region of
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
brought with them more modern winemaking techniques and helped to increase the overall quality of Algerian wine. Even after the French resumed normal levels of wine production, Algerian wine was still widely used in regions like the
Languedoc
The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France.
Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...
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 was producing more of wine. By the 1950s, together with Tunisia and Morocco, Algerian 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 grapes. The dominant grape variety in Algeria at this time was
Carignan
Carignan (also known as Mazuelo, Bovale Grande, Cariñena, Carinyena, Samsó, Carignane, and Carignano) is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Mediterra ...
, 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
Vin or VIN may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Vîn TV, a Kurdish language satellite television channel founded in 2007
* '' Vos Iz Neias?'', an American Jewish online news site
* Coastal radio station VIN Geraldton (callsign), a sta ...
'' (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
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
agreed to buy 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 or
table grape
Table grapes are grapes intended for consumption while fresh, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, juice production, or for drying into raisins.
''Vitis vinifera'' table grapes can be in the form of either seeded or non-seeded varieta ...
s.
Urban expansion
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...
in areas such as the fertile
Mitidja
Mitidja, (Arabic: , Berber: Mettijet ⵎⴻⵜⵙⵉⵛⵝ) is a plain stretching along the outskirts of Algiers in northern Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, ...
plain behind Algiers 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
sea
The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
, this region has a typical
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
with mild winters and dry, hot summers and is very similar to the southern wine regions of Spain. Rainfall averages around in the regions east of Algiers to in the western regions closer to Morocco. The main wine producing areas are located in the provinces of
Aïn Témouchent
Aïn Témouchent ( ar, عين تموشنت) is a city in north western Algeria, it is the capital of Aïn Témouchent Province. Ain Temouchent is located 72 km south-west of Oran, a city with which it is closely associated, and 63 km w ...
,
Mascara
Mascara is a cosmetic commonly used to enhance the upper and lower eyelashes. It is used to darken, thicken, lengthen, and/or define the eyelashes. Normally in one of three forms—liquid, powder, or cream—the modern mascara product has vari ...
,
Mostaganem
Mostaganem ( ber, Mustɣanem; ar, مستغانم) is a port city in and capital of Mostaganem province, in the northwest of Algeria. The city, founded in the 11th century lies on the Gulf of Arzew, Mediterranean Sea and is 72 km ENE of O ...
,
Sidi Bel Abbès
Sidi Bel Abbès ( ar, سيدي بلعباس), also called Bel Abbès, is the capital (2005 pop. 200,000)''Sidi Bel Abbes'', lexicorient.com (Encyclopaedia of the Orient), internet article. of the Sidi Bel Abbès wilaya (2005 pop. 590,000), Alger ...
and
Tlemcen
Tlemcen (; ar, تلمسان, translit=Tilimsān) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran, and capital of the Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the p ...
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. Certain information is ordinarily incl ...
Médéa
Médéa ( ber, Lemdiyyet, ar, المدية ''al-Madiya''), population 123,535 (1998 census) is the capital city of Médéa Province, Algeria. It is located roughly 68 km south of Algiers.
The present-day city is situated on the site o ...
During the peak of Algerian wine production, the main grapes of the region was
Carignan
Carignan (also known as Mazuelo, Bovale Grande, Cariñena, Carinyena, Samsó, Carignane, and Carignano) is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Mediterra ...
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 (itself a cross of the very old variety Teinturier du Cher and Aramon) and Grenache.Pinot noir or otherwise resembling Burgundian wine, blends of these grapes were often mislabeled as ''burgundy''. In recent times,
Clairette blanche
Clairette blanche is a white wine grape variety most widely grown in the wine regions of Provence, Rhône and Languedoc in France. At the end of the 1990s, there were of Clairette blanche grown in France, although volumes are decreasing.
Cla ...
grape varieties
This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
acidity
In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a ...
. The grapes often go through a short fermentation process and are bottled after little to no
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...