To be honest (blame it on global warming?), it is not that easy to find red wines with 12.5 % alcohol or less which is the theme for "Wine Blogging Wednesday" number 22 as proposed by Tim of Winecast.
After much soul (and mostly shelf) searching I settled for a wine I almost forgot about. Let's be honest it is also a wine I have not had in years, the last time was in Montreal about 12 years ago.
To cut it short, my pick is Sidi Brahim, Vin Rouge d'Algerie (Algeria) who clocks in at 12% alcohol. I had it many times in France when going to an Algerian restaurant serving couscous. This simple table red wine with earthy tones is made with Carignan, Alicante, Cinsault and Grenache grapes grown near the city of Oran. Couscous was brought to France by the many pieds noirs who moved back to the metropole after the independence. Wine growing in Algeria was in the dolldrums during the Islamist Insurection but has been making a comeback in the past few years. So blame my choice on nostalgia and the memory of enjoyable meals especially in Avignon during the Theater Festival.