The pied-noir winemakers repatriated from Algeria to the Gaillacois brought their know-how

In 2022, Andrée Dijou-Czerny presented, during the series of conferences of the Friends of Museums and Gaillacois Heritage (SAMPG), the history of the French in Algeria “set out from Gaillac, Tarn or elsewhere…” based on his book “1846, destination: Africa”.

This Thursday, March 16 at 6 pm, in the Dom Vayssette auditorium, he will base his observations on his new book “La vigne et le vin, d’Algérie au Gaillacois”.

It evokes the displacement of the population that took place in the early 1960s, at the end of the Algerian war, and the passage from North Africa to France of thousands of European winemakers, including the author’s father.

“More historical and political than technical, this book is intended for all those who feel concerned about the end of the Algerian war and the upheavals it caused in France, but also for all those who are interested in the history of the vine and wine “.

Not all of these pied-noir winemakers were tycoons of the caliber of Henri Borgeaud, whose La Trappe estates spanned hundreds of hectares.

The spirit of initiative

The wine trade between Algeria and France had brought prosperity to shipowners such as Laurent Schiaffino and to ports such as Sète, Europe’s first “wine” port.

“In North Africa, although ancient, viticulture was subject to many risks: invasions, random policies, religious prohibitions… It ended up developing in Algeria during the French period, but belatedly, for various reasons: in fact, the planting of the vine presupposes financial means which the first settlers did not have; moreover, developing this culture in a Muslim country, in unknown lands and in a colony subject to a metropolis was a real challenge,” explains Andrée Dijou-Czerny.

He will talk about his father, Raoul, a winemaker from “both shores of the Mediterranean”, who bought a piece of land in Brens from Oranie.

The pied-noir winemakers, sometimes tricked into buying land and not always well received by their colleagues, brought with them the entrepreneurial spirit.

Mouly (Tauziès), Ailloud (Pialentou), Mattei (Lécusse), Brun (Le Payssel), etc. have contributed to the development of the vineyard and its fame. The obtaining of the AOC appellation in the reds, in 1968, thirty years after the whites, is not unrelated to their foundation in Gaillac.