Wine In Morocco

I’ve seen this article tweeted at least a dozen times today:

Wine thrives in Muslim Morocco

“Morocco has become one of the largest winemakers in the Muslim world, with the equivalent of 35 million bottles produced last year. Wine brings the state millions in sales tax, even though Islam appears to be on the rise politically.

…

On paper, wine is “Haram,” or forbidden to Muslims. But Bouchaara said the firm’s distribution is all legal since it only sells to traders authorized by the state, who in turn officially sell exclusively to non-Muslim tourists.”

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha….that’s a good one.

Mehdi Bouchaara is deputy general manager at the Celliers de Meknes, the people who make the only wine I drank on a regular basis in Morocco - Guerrouane Rouge! I guess I’ll give the wink to his politically necessary but silly statement, then.

Here’s a few more interesting facts from WinePlanet.com:

Morocco
Morocco has 15,000ha (37,000 acres) devoted to wine grapes, with 12 appellation d’origine garantie (AOG) regions.

Berkane and Angad
A small area in the east, making earthy red wines.

Meknes and Fez
The biggest region, producing good reds from high-altitude vineyards beneath the Atlas Mountains. Appellations here include Guerrouane, Beni Sadden and Beni Zerhoune. The wines can be rich and chewy.

Gharb
This includes the appellations of Gharb and Zemmour. From here and to the south comes Gris de Boulaouane, a popular, light rose.

Rabat
This includes the appellations of Gharb and Zemmour. From here and to the south comes Gris de Boulaouane, a popular, light rose.

Casablanca
Coastal vineyards that include the appellation of Zenata.