Madagascar Wine Regions, Vineyards & Wineries

Off the eastern coast of Africa, Madagascar is an island nation in the Indian Ocean.

Madagascar is the 4th largest island in the world and the 9th poorest country. Long known for vanilla beans, teas and peppers, the Swiss introduced grape vines in the 1970s. The main wine region is in the mountains near Fianarantsoa.

Africa in a Bottle - A pair of English writer's journey through Africa in search of wines. This essay describes their brief encounter with a vineyard owner who is part of the Lazan'i Betsileo cooperative. This group produces some of the best wines in Madagascar.

Fianarantsoa - A page on the city that speaks about the area and its attractions. One paragraph captures the wine facts,"...Lazan'i Betsileo. Still, it's not the only good wine from Fianarantsoa. You can taste for instance clos malaza, maromby, manomisoa, S.V.S., cotes de Fianar, zanatany, tsaralaza...."

Clos Malaza - The site is only available in French, but since many of the names of wines that English speakers recognize are French, the labels are informative. The pictures on the right hand side of each page give some idea of the activities and scenery at the winery.

Madagascar - To Ranomafana - This review of a visit to the Saovita winery in Madagascar includes plenty of pictures, but is a very unflattering view of the wine production methods...and the wines.

Nectar of the Gods - Madagascar Grey Wine - Another personal encounter, this time with grey wine. Scroll down the page until you get to the description of the tasting. The page heading is not related to the wine which, according to the article is definitely not the nectar of the gods...