Wine production burgeoning in Morocco

(MiddleEastOnline) - 85 percent of domestic production is drunk locally despite Islamist-led government’s tax hike on alcoholic drinks.

Vines stretch to the horizon under the hot summer sun in a vineyard near Casablanca, one of the oldest in Morocco, where despite the pressures from a conservative Muslim society, wine production -- and consumption -- is flourishing.

"In Morocco we are undeniably in a land of vines," says wine specialist Stephane Mariot.

"Here there is a microclimate which favours the production of 'warm wines', even though we aren't far from the ocean," adds the manager of Oulad Thaleb, a 2,000-hectare vineyard in Benslimane, 30 kilometres (18 miles) northeast of Casablanca, which he has run for five years.

The social climate in the North African county is less propitious, however, with the election of the Islamist Party of Justice and Development in 2011, and the fact that Moroccan law prohibits the sale of alcohol to Muslims, who make up 98 percent of the population.

In practice though alcohol is tolerated and well-stocked supermarkets do a brisk trade in the main cities where there is a growing appetite for decent wine.

According to some estimates, 85 percent of domestic production is drunk locally, while around half of total output is considered good quality.