In its heyday Algerian vineyards were planted substantially with Carignan, Alicante Bouschet, Cinsault, and Grenache and, although the vines have not been well maintained, vine age in Algeria is notably high. A replanting programme that began in the late 1990s has encouraged the planting of international varieties, including Tempranillo, for red wines.

Most wine was vinified on a semi-industrial scale in wineries that favoured fast fermentations and early bottling, although its mechanization and hot-country technology at one time provided inspiration for many. The autovinification tanks once common in the douro, for example, were developed in Algeria, where they were known as the Ducellier system.