Gabon's almost impossible experiment: making wine on the equator

In the middle of Gabon's tropical rainforest, some 150 kilometres from the equator, lies one of the strangest wine projects in the world: Domaine d'Assiami. It is the only vineyard in Central Africa.
Text: Ingrid Larmoyeur (The Wine Institute) | Image: Unsplash

The project emerged in the 2000s from a remarkable dream of then-authoritarian President Omar Bongo (in 2005, with a tenure of almost 38 years at the time, the longest-serving president in Africa). After independence from France in 1960, Gabon was left with an elite accustomed to French wine and champagne. Bongo wondered: why don't we just make it ourselves?

No sooner said than done

With the help of French entrepreneur Dominique Auroy, who previously experimented with viticulture in tropical Tahiti, a vineyard was established in Haut-Ogooué province. First, 46 grape varieties were tested. In the end, only one remained that could somewhat handle the climate: carignan noir.

Conditions are extreme

For 98%, the soil consists of sand, so the vines need about 15 litres of water daily to survive. Just the opposite happens during the rainy season: then the grapes risk drowning in moisture, fungi and insects. Added to this are tropical animals that like to eat along.

As a result, yields are small. Only about 500 kilos of grapes, good for a few thousand bottles of wine, are harvested each year on about 4 hectares of vineyard. Everything is done by hand, as machines have long since given up on this soil.

After the 2023 coup that toppled the Bongo dynasty, the vineyard surprisingly continued to exist. With a small team continuing mainly through pride and perseverance.

Whether the wine will ever become a world-famous “equatorial grand cru”? That's doubtful. But if winemaking is anywhere an exercise in stubbornness, it is here.

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