Sitting on a gold
"IT'S the wasted potential that makes me want to cry. There are so many good vineyards here - or, at least, vineyards that could be good if anybody cared. Eighty per cent of the vines in Algeria are more than 40 years old. Anywhere else - for example, in Australia or Burgundy - they'd be jumping up and down with resources like that."
This is how Oz Clarke introduced the North African section of his Wine Atlas (Little, Brown, £40), published in 1995. Clarke went on to bemoan the state of the wine industries in three North African countries - Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria - and to wonder why no one had bothered to harness their potential.
Two years later, it looks like someone has. Towards the end of 1997, I attended what must be one of the most unusual wine tastings on record. The venue was the basement bar at Momo, London's deeply fashionable North African restaurant, and the event was the launch of a new group of Algerian wines. But these were not any old Algerian wines - the collection of rosés and reds was the result of a dynamic new collaboration between the Algerian state monopoly ONCV (Office National de Commercialisation des Produits Viti-Vinicoles) and the UK-based Atlas Mountain Wine Company.
The event marked the first opportunity to taste these new wave North African wines produced with the help of Atlas Mountain's John Parker and his wine consultant David Bird MW. The launch proved to be exciting: gone were the hard, baked, maderized flavours of yesterday, and in their place were soft, fruity reds - smooth, quaffable wines with ripe flavours of blackcurrant and red berries, and notes of chocolate and fig. Sure, they weren't the most complex wines in the world, and they certainly lacked the structure to age for any length of time, but here were decent, juicy wines that would certainly match the succulent flavours of North African tagines.
The current trend for North African cuisine makes this development a timely one. Restaurants such as Momo, and newer arrival Pasha (in London's Gloucester Road), have put North African dishes under the spotlight, but rich ingredients have made them difficult to match with wine.
"The flavours of southern French reds go well with the food - think Cahors," says Momo Murad, the restaurant's eponymous owner, "but I am convinced the reds from North Africa go with it too." Tim Spence, bar manager at Pasha, agrees. "We need rich, ripe, big reds to match our cuisine, but we don't want anything too tannic or tough. I certainly think North Africa has the potential to produce wines like this, and I am looking to place North African wine on our list."
The new Algerian wines are produced on the northern Mediterranean coast around the cities of Setif and Oran, while other vineyards are a little further inland in the lower reaches of the Atlas Mountains, up to 1,500m above sea level. Wine regions to look out for are the Coteaux du Tlemcen and the Coteaux de Mascara.
Algeria's wine industry is based far away from the area where the present horrifying conflict is taking place. But even so, it can't have been easy to get a decrepit industry up and running. Algeria's wine industry was first established by the French in the 1830s, when vines were planted in the province of Oran and on the slopes of the Atlas Mountains. But the country's vineyards last flourished in the late 1960s, when exports peaked at 60-70 million cases per annum. This was mainly bulk wine, soaked up quietly by the French to fill out wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Midi. Stricter EU rules introduced in the 1970s put paid to such practices. The domestic market in Algeria dried up even earlier when the French pulled out from their colonies, taking some of the best wine-makers with them. It's a similar story in Morocco and Tunisia.
Parker says that a few years ago, when he first became involved in Algerian wine, it appeared the wine industry was lying dormant. And most wine samples, he says, were "oxidised - absolutely awful". But he felt sure that there was a vast potential waiting to be tapped. Now he has an exclusive contract with ONCV to provide and promote worldwide sales of Algerian wine, working with an astonishing 72 wineries.
The grape varieties used are similar to the old stock found in the South of France - Grenache, Carignan, Cinsault and Syrah. Most reds are blends of two or more of these grapes. But Cabernet Sauvignon and Mourvädre plantings are on the increase and should add more guts to the wines.
Dry whites from the region are virtually non-existent. Chardonnay is being planted, apparently, but for the moment Ugni Blanc and Clairette rule the vineyards.
Momo is in the process of changing its wine list, but typically offers six Algerian wines, three Moroccan and one from Tunisia. Murad suggests Muscat with spicy food (Tunisia produces sweetish Muscats), and with the richest dishes of all, a full-bodied, oaked, Moroccan red, Beni m'Tir.
"The reaction to the wines from the restaurant trade has been very good," Parker says. "In fact, it has been a more enthusiastic sector than I judged it would be." With the arrival of more North African and North African-influenced dishes on restaurant menus, it is hardly surprising. And Parker has little competition - very few companies import North African into the UK, although ADV Wines has a solid selection from Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria and are essential contacts for anyone interested in North African wines.
At the Algerian wine launch I met Rob Chase, retail manager at Adnams Wine Merchants, who was cautiously positive about what he was tasting. "I see future potential in what would appear to be a prime growing area," he said. "The wines we are trying are all good, if rather old. I feel they lack structure - perhaps because they have been in tanks for too long. The next vintage should be interesting, and I would hope the wines will get on to the market a bit earlier. You will probably see something from North Africa on Adnams' wine list in the future."
As for Parker, he is aware that there is still a lot of work to be done. "Don't forget, we are shifting the Algerian wine trade from the mid-1970s to the present day in a very short period of time. We plan to bring a premium range over eventually, and will launch varietal wines, as well as blends. The future has so many possibilities. After all, this is not one winery, or even one region, we are talking about. It's a whole country." n
