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 The earliest evidence of grape vine cultivation in Algeria dates back to ancient times, first with the Phoenicians, then the Roman Empire. In 1870, the phylloxera epidemic in France led colonists to plant an intensive selection of highly diverse grape varieties. Cultivating up to 400,000 hectares of vines in the 1930s and producing 18 million hectolitres of wine, Algeria was the leading exporter of wine before World War II Following the country’s independence, a policy of uprooting the vines was adopted, leaving only 25,000 hectares for wine grapes.
Today, the Algerian vineyards are enjoying a revival, with around 77,000 hectares of vines currently planted. The efforts undertaken to improve wine quality are bearing fruit. Although the area planted with vines has been vastly reduced, Algeria is the second largest producer of wine in Africa.
Grape varieties grown:
Whites - Merseguera, Clairette, Ugni blanc, Muscat of Alexandria
Red - Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache, Alicante
Rose – Cinsault, Grenache
The appellations:
The Coteaux de Mascara region is located 350km south-west of Algiers on Mount Beni-Chougrane, at attitudes of 650-950m. Its soils are sandy clay loam and its vines produce red, rose and white wines.
The Coteaux de Tlemcen region lies 500km to the west of Algiers, close to Morocco. These mountain vineyards are cultivated at attitudes ranging from 700-800m. The climate is cool and dry and the soils are sandstone, clay and limestone. The wines produced are reds, roses and whites.
Dahra, which lies 200km to the west of Algiers between the Mostaganem region and Mount Zaccar, has vineyards planted at attitudes of between 100m and 400m. Its soils are sandy over a limestone base. It produces red and rose wines with a guaranteed designation of origin.
The Monts du Tessalah are located in the Tessalah Mountains at an attitude of 600m in the Sidi-bel-Abbes region, south of Oran. Its vineyards are distributed over two very famous winegrowing regions: Ain-Temouchent and Sidi-Bel-Abbes. Its soils are rich in silica and limestone and the climate is continental. The vineyards produce red and rose wines.
Ain-Bessem-Bouira located around a hundred kilometres from Aligers, to the south of Tizi-Ouzou, on sandy-silty plains. It produces red and rose appellation wines.
The Coteaux du Zaccar located 120km west of Algiers, the vineyard is planted at an attitude of 600-800m, on the south-eastern slopes of Djebel Gherbi. The climate is harsh, with snow in winter and scorching  temperatures in summer. The red or grey soils are a mixture of clay, shale and lime-sand. Its vine produce red and rose appellation wines.
Medea is a mainly mountainous region (with altitudes ranging from 950m to 1,200m), with rugged contours framing a number of small-scale plains at the heart of the Tellian Atlas Mountains. Soil texture : sandy silt clay. Red, rose and white wines are produced with a guaranteed designation of origin.
Key figures
80% red, 15% rose, 5% white wines.
Vineyards are mainly in the north of the island, at altitudes of 250m-700m.
Average size of Algerian vineyards : 3.8 hectares.
CORSICAN WINES AT THE VINISUD - The 3rd most important winegrowing island in the Mediterranean, after Sicily and Sardinia.
Corsican wines embody the very essence of the island identity. They conjure it up dreamily, its rugged contours, bathed in sun, buffeted by the wind. Surprising, bold and decidedly exotic!
Foreign flavours, the promise of adventure: thrilling our taste buds, awakening our senses to the ultimate in indulgence and discovery. The Corsican vineyards are synonymous with contrasts....they are the most southerly, some of the most private, the sunniest yet dominated by 20 peaks of over 2,000 metres. Here, tradition and modernity go hand in hand with the numbers of women involved in wine production rising to 1/3 of all winegrowers.
Diversity in every glass!
Covering an area of 8,680 square km, Corsica reveals itself to be a rich, surprising winegrowing region with a total of 9 PDOs divided between “Cru”, “Villages” and “Regional” appellations, including a specific natural sweet wine appellation.
The character of Corsican wines flows from the innermost of soul of these indigenous, incredibly rich grape varieties. From this sophisticated mosaic, three varietals stand out, reputed to be the finest in Corsica: Niellucciu, Sciaccarellu and Vermentinu.
Wines from the Île de Beauté PGIs alone account for half of all production from Corsica’s vineyards.
Across all wines – regional, varietal or AOP wines – roses are the most commonly produced wines in Corsica.
23 exhibitors had shown their presence at the Vinisud 2016.
Also held one of the exhibitions’s most interesting tastings some older vintages of white, red and sweet Corsican wines. The white and sweet wines in particular were a true delight.
Some interesting shots from Vinisud 2016
We also spied this clever packaging which turned out to be….….bag in box wine from the Pays d’Oc.
Organisers pointed out the success of a number of initiatives such as the ‘Sparkling Zone’, which turned a spotlight on fizz from France, Spain and Italy, and ‘Wine Mosaic’ which allowed visitors to taste an array of rare and unusual Mediterranean grape varieties.
The show also hosted a number of events such as the Sud de France Sommelier Challenge which was won by Edmond Gasser and Gabriel Angermaier (from Jérôme Nutile in Nîmes) and The Wine Tourist of the Year Award which was won by the Iter Vitis France association.
A natural cork collection initiative held by the cork industry and France Cancer also collected over 50,000 corks over the three days.
Next year’s Vinisud will be held in Montpellier from 20-22 February.
Rakesh Awaghade |