Wine101: Old World VS New World

You may have heard the terms ‘Old World’ and ‘New World’ of wines before, but maybe you are not really sure what exactly what it means? Well, this is a little introduction:

‘Old World’ encompass the wine producing countries based in Europe solely – France, Spain, Italy, Germany or Portugal for the most renown ones, but also Switzerland/Austria/Bulgaria/ Moldavia/Croatia/Ukraine/Russia/Greece, or even England (much more recent, but they do produces some more than decent sparkling wines). These countries have a very strong history with wines, with some areas known to have grown grapes for over 2,000 years.

The tightly rooted traditions means that the production is very regulated according the regions specificities, and producers tend to showcase more of the typicality of a small areas rather than of a definite grape itself; this is why wines are often made from a blend of different varietals, from 2 types to up to 18 for some villages! Many producers won’t be listing the grapes varietals on the labels itself, either by choice, or because the actual classification won’t allow them. Many areas do not allow irrigation and would be much more dependent on the weather condition for the growing season, so quality will vary according to the vintages, especially for the more premium wines.

The ‘New World’ corresponds to wine producing countries in the rest of the world, including Australia, New Zealand, USA, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, but also Uruguay/Brazil/China or even India. The oldest areas were in South Americas, where grapes were introduces 300-400 years ago y Missionaries, but in some wine region in other parts of the world, vines where planted only 30 years ago. The regulation, while still present, would be a bit looser than in Europe, and wineries will have more liberty to produce wines. Irrigation is mostly present everywhere, especially in very dry area like in Australia, so the producers can control more the grape volume of production – making it slightly easier to have a consistent flavour profile year after year. Much of the production would be for single varietal wines, and almost always indicated on the label – making it easier for most of the people to understand and purchase.

The origin of the wine doesn’t guarantee the quality or the simplicity of the wine, this is why I encourage you to open your horizon and discover wines from across the world, do not focus in a single varietal or country/ region, there is enough good wines across the world to have a great and fun Journey into great wines.