It’s hard to imagine it now given the 21st century landscape of wine production, but in the 1960s it wasn’t Italy, Spain or France producing the most wine on the planet. It wasn’t even other modern day wine nations like Argentina or Portugal.
It was Algeria, and by a wide margin too. In 1960, Algeria exported twice as much wine as France, Italy and Spain combined! Nowadays, the Algerians produce barely anything which is why it’s so surprising that they once topped the global charts. So, what happened?
Well, producing very little wine is actually a return to the norm in Algeria. For most of the 19th century, hardly a bottle was produced. In 1830, the French invaded and re-organised Algeria and within a few decades, settlers arrived and of course, being French, vineyards were planted. The Atlas Mountains provided an ideal micro-climate for developing a French-Algerian wine industry.
Whilst grapes here flourished, the opposite was happening on the continent. The phylloxera epidemic in the 1870s devastated Europe’s vineyards, and the demand for Algerian vines grew. By 1930, Algeria was already producing 7% of all wine. Now, you might be wondering how that works given that Algeria is predominantly Muslim, and the answer is that they exported most of it. In fact, 40% of wine exports were from Algeria before the First World War, and just before the Second World War, this had risen to a staggering 67%!
Other countries, like France, produced a lot but they also kept most of it. As a result, Algeria had become an unexpected global powerhouse of wine. This looked set to continue, as Algeria signed up to trade agreements and communities in the 1950s. Then, a push for independence was made in Algeria and after years fighting, Algeria was granted independence, but how did this affect wine production?
Well, initially, not so much. New President Ahmed Ben Bella maintained the status quo, but with French settlers leaving, they were now entirely reliant on exporting to foreign countries. Stability was short-lived however, with a coup d’état in 1965 and years of dictatorship, religious extremism and civil war to follow.
As a result, European trading communities stopped treating Algeria in the same way, withdrawing their benefits, and making the whole process far less appealing for all parties. For instance, Algeria now had to buy bottles from Europe for them to be legally sold in Europe. French-owned vineyards were now run by Algerian Muslims or the state, and many were converted to produce different goods.
Desperately seeking new markets, Algeria agreed a wine trade agreement with the Soviet Union but prices were unprofitably set and this fell apart. By the time the 20th century came to an end, Algeria produced and exported next to nothing.
In 2021, the Algerian government launched an action plan to help several industries but there was nothing for wine. With a similar climate to Spain, Algeria could one day produce large quantities of wine again but for now, it just looks set to remain an interesting story of the rise and fall of the largest wine empire ever.