Exploring the History of Wine in Morocco

Winemaking in Morocco dates back to Phoenician times. This North African nation is producing wines in the foothills of the coastal Atlas M...

Winemaking in Morocco dates back to Phoenician times. This North African nation is producing wines in the foothills of the coastal Atlas Mountains.

While many travelers to Morocco return home with treasures from the souk(marketplaces) and stories of stays in luxurious riads (palaces) in Marrakech or tent camps in the Sahara, few bring back tales of local wine. Most meals there, especially those eaten outside hotels or high-end restaurants, are accompanied solely by Maghrebi mint tea.

Winemaking in this North African nation dates back to Phoenician times, and the tradition continued through the Roman era. The art of enology was lost here in the 7^th century due to Islamic bans on alcohol, but French colonization in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries heralded the return of both winemaking and social drinking.

By the 1950s, Morocco was one of the largest wine exporting countries in the world, but after the country gained independence in 1956, many vineyards were abandoned or plowed over. In the 1990s, King Hassan II appealed to French investors and wine experts to return the industry to its former glory.

Today, the country produces about 40 million bottles of wine annually, but only about 5 percent is exported. There are seven wine regions containing a total of 14 AOGs (guaranteed appellation of origin) and 2 AOCs (controlled appellation of origin).