All You Need To Know About Old World And New World Wine

The first New World winemakers during the 18th and 19th centuries generally adopted the rules of the wine making techniques present in European countries at that time, with the intent of creating wines that closely resembled those available in Europe. Nonetheless, their own climates and soils were completely different; frequently having to put up with sweltering temperatures never experienced in the Old World homeland. For instance, settlers in California found the sizzling heat was too great for the production of superior Wine grapes, until they realized the valleys of Napa and Sonoma could take advantage of the gaps within the Coastal range of mountains which drew in cold air and fog from the sea, providing the essential cooling element so essential for top quality Wine.

New World wines are usually defined as "Wines produced in regions established by colonies of European exploration, which began with some of the longer voyages within the 15th century."

In other words, New World wines are all those developed in regions besides Europe and the Mediterranean countries.

It was throughout the 1960s, when traditions ended up being questioned, and boundaries were coming down, which gave New World Wine its chance for global popularity. Brought about in the USA by men such as Robert Mondavi and in Australia by Max Schubert of Penfolds, there came the desire to change and improve on the Old order. This arrived in combination with a complete rethink of how to explain and market the wines.

Initially, the New World were simply using renowned names from the Old World; "Australian Burgundy" and "Californian Chablis" grew to become commonplace. International legislation quickly caught up with this practice, however, ruling that Burgundy or Chablis can only be made in Burgundy or Chablis. so even though the New World producer could use identical grapes and identical methods to produce a high quality version of one of these renowned wines, he couldn't use any name that the customer would recognise.

These producers soon came to the conclusion that it was the flavour belonging to the various grape varieties which was the single most important factor in their wines, and arrived at the solution of varietal labelling.These people featured the grape variety on the label, their own name, and left it at that. This has transformed the entire way we think of, speak about, choose - and most importantly - purchase Wine. We now know the importance of the various grapes, as it is these varieties, rather than the place of origin, that is stressed on the label. We are all now used to ordering a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir or a Rioja. No other concept has made the enjoyment of Wine so easily accessible to all.

This accessibility has resulted in a willingness to test: to purchase and experience the type of wine we enjoy, wherever it was made, New World or Old World. Now the Old World has recognised that it must move into this contemporary World in order to compete and survive, and the naming of grapes on labels is now almost as popular in Europe as any place in the winemaking World.

The challenge for the newer producers is to produce wines which have the high quality of the originals from the Old World, that will possess the staying power to keep them being purchased and enjoyed by wine lovers around the world. This is great news for us; it means that we have a greater choice of wines than ever before, from a broader number of places. It also ensures that we have the chance to experience what a few of the world's best wines have to offer - at a decent price.

By: Eddie Smith

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Edward Smith has a huge amount of experience writing for the web and offline publications. He is currently writing about wine including riedel wine glasses and spiegelau wine glasses.