You may have started to see “New World Wines” on the wine list as a category or heard someone mention this after they pull their nose out of a glass. What is the “new world” and how can one determine it from smelling a wine?
Old World Wine
To understand the new world, it’s important to identify “the old.” The old world is where wine grapes were first harvested and crafted into vino. The most ancient part of the old wine world is in the middle east along the Tigris-Euphrates valley up through Armenia. Wine has been crafted in this region and parts of China for 10,000 years.
From the middle-east wine grapes and cultivation spread through Greece to Sicily and Rome.
The map of either Alexander the Great’s empire, or Rome at it’s height, will give you an idea of what “the old wine world” is. The middle-east, being more non-drinking Muslim as of this past millennia, haven’t focused on winemaking like Europe.
The Primary Old World Wine Countries Are:
- Italy
- France
- Alsace
- Spain
- Germany
- Hungary
- Greece
- Portugal
- Morocco
- Slovenia
- Armenia
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
What Are Characteristics Of Old World Wines?
The region of Old World wines span many microclimates but there are some popular trends. Cool weather in countries like France, Germany, and Northern Italy tend to produce wines that are:
- Higher Acid
- Lighter Bodied
- Low To Moderate In Alcohol
- More Earthy Than Fruity
“Earthy wines” can have notes of tobacco, leather, smoke, cedar, potting soil, barnyard, tar, racket ball, or even mushrooms.
Over thousands of years winemakers learned from their land which grapes to plant, where to plant them, and when to harvest.
Old World wines are an honest expression of where they are from and exhibit the original grapes essence i.e.. terroir.
Cabernet Sauvignon from it’s birthplace in Bordeaux will show notes of bell pepper and jalapeno. This comes from Cabernet Sauvignon’s mom, Sauvignon Blanc that passed it’s green/ herbaceous notes on.
What Are New World Wines?
New World wines are from outside of Europe and the Middle-East.
Colonizers from Spain, Britain, France, and Italy all took their know-how and passion with them to North and South America, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
Malbec adventured from France to Argentina, Cabernet Sauvignon traveled to California, and Riesling to New Zealand.
Most of the new homes for classic grapes were warmer, had more direct sunlight, and different soil than they were used to and the wines reflect this.
What Are The Properties Of New World Wines?
Warmer weather and later harvesting lead to higher amounts of sugar and alcohol potential.
New World Wines Are:
- Bigger Bodied
- Higher In Alcohol
- Lower In Acidity
- More Fruity Than Earthy
- Cheaper In Price (Generally)
If wines were cars; Old World wines would would be Mini Coopers, and New World would be closer to Cadillac Eldorados.
Cherry and blackberry on a Syrah from France could become blueberry in Shiraz from Australia. Same grape, different climate.
Malbec in Bordeaux France is quite earthy and gamey, while Malbec in Argentina bursts with fruit.
Are there any exceptions?
There are some wines of nuance crafted outside of Europe in regions with cool climates.
Oregon shares the same longitude with France allowing it’s Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to be more “Burgundian” than that of sunny Central Coast California.
Pioneers From The Old World
Master wine-makers in Europe discovered that they could find pockets of land around the world that would treat certain grapes well. They also knew that land was finite and expensive in Europe so they ventured out to experiment.
Piero Incisa della Rocchetta (grandson of the Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, founder of the famous Sassicaia) established Chacra in Patagonia, Argentina.
He saw the pristine conditions necessary to grow “Burgundian” Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and jumped on it in 2004.
100 Point Merlot In Napa
After studying winemaking at University of California Davis in the 60’s, Christian Moueix (Son of Jean-Pierre Moueix of Chateau Petrus) decided to focus on Merlot in Napa Valley.
In the 80’s he partnered with Napanook and in the 90’s, Dominus was born.
His bottles may only fetch $400 a piece, and not $4000 like his father’s at Petrus, but they still earn 100 point scores on a regular basis.
Rhone Finds A Home In Paso Robles
Southern Rhone France is the home of the great blends. Well over a dozen grapes call this area home. The most popular blend from this part of Southern France is a GSM blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre.
The famous Rhone wines of Chateauneuf du Pape are made with over a dozen different grapes in some years. These wines were designed for the Pope when his home was in Avignon for 70 years in the 14th century.
In the late 1980’s the famous Perrin family of Chateau de Beaucastel (premier Chateauneuf producer) teamed up with American Robert Haas to bring Rhone wines to Paso Robles, California.
Perrin provided “cuttings” of vines from their estate to be planted and grapes like Grenache, Syrah, Viognier, Roussanne, and many others found a home on the Central Coast.
Haas, one of the “Rhone Rangers”, started Tablas Creek in 1989.
Over the past 3 decades the nursery at Tablas Creek has been responsible for providing over 5,000,000 cuttings to wine makers all over the United States!
Every year new winemaking operations are established in the New World. The bigger, more fruited styles, have become so popular that countries like France and Italy have started to stylistically copy them. (Much to the frustration of the Old World wine lover.)
With longer hang times and higher levels of extraction, it’s not unusual to find French Bordeaux or Rhone blends that are similar to a Californian or even an Australian style!
This does mean that “blind tasting calls” about whether a wine is new or old world by a simple whiff of a glass will become more challenging as the Old World looses some sense of terroir and resembles more and more the Cadillac Eldorados of the New World frontiers. We shall see.
Cheers!
