“Wine was so central to the economic life of French Algeria that it can be used to trace the rise and fall of the colony itself,” writes Owen White in The Blood of the Colony: Wine and the Rise and Fall of French Algeria. As the French empire waned, so did Algerian wine production. However, it was with support from colonial institutions that European settlers put the Algerian wine industry on course to become one of the world’s largest. Thus, the Algerian wine sector fell as it rose—almost in a flash, amid tremendous violence. Having faced popular uprisings as recently as last year, the government is keen on saving face among conservative contingents by positioning itself against the wine industry.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 08, 2022 11:26 UTC