Old World Vs New World Wine

One thing you may hear while drinking wine is the classification of old world and new world. It simply refers to the location the grapes were grown, but there are some generalities that you can make about the wine based on that.

Old world wines are primarily grown in Europe and the Middle East. So wines from France, Spain, Italy, Germany all are considered old world. Since Europeans have been making wine since before the new world existed it is steeped in tradition. There are rules and even laws about the naming convention, the way to make the wine and what grapes can be used. Additionally due to the terroir, the wines generally have particular taste profiles.

New world wines are those grown in places outside of Europe. The United States, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and Chile, for example. Again due to climate and terroir they tend to have a different flavor profile. And, since it is the wild wild west, they end to buck traditional wine methods and are more experimental.

The differences in climate and terroir lead to major differences in the taste between the two wine classifications. The old world wines are primarily from Europe where they experience cold winters and mild summers. The grapes are not able to ripen as fully so they produce less sugar which in turn leads to less alcohol production. The land, or terroir, of Europe is able to more fully be expressed in the wine and lends to earthy and minerality flavors. They tend to have more acidity and tannins. New world wines are grown in areas that have warmer climates, think California or Australia. As a result the grapes can get riper leading to more sugar production which leads to higher alcohol content, but also a more fruit-forward taste profile.

The differences in naming conventions can lead to confusion or give you a hint as to where the wine was produced. Old world wines are generally named for the location not the grape. For example Chianti is a region in Italy that must contain at least 80% Sangiovese grape. So there is no American Chianti, but there are American Sangiovese wines. Similarly Champagne is a region in France which produces sparkling wine using specific grapes and specific techniques, so any bubbly that is created in the United States earns the label of sparkling wine. Often times the label on old world wines only list the region, so it can be hard to do a grape to grape comparison without doing some research first. However, since the grapes are legally mandated, that information can be found.

One event we did for wine night was do an Old World versus New World Blind Taste Testing. We grabbed a couple of pairs listed below, wrapped them in newspaper, labeled each pair as 1a or 1b and drank! We made sheets for people to write down their guesses and then tallied how many people got correct. I'm happy to say that I was 100% on guessing old world versus new world! We had an added challenge where we didn't tell people the varietal and had them guess, since I set up the wines I didn't participate in that part of the challenge, but I'm sure I would have done awful! :)

If you are looking for a fun evening grab a couple of them and do a blind tasting to see if you can tell them apart!

White Wine:

Champagne vs California Sparkling Wine

Alsatian or German Riesling vs California or Washington Riesling

Italian Pinot Grigio vs California Pinot GrigioAlsatian Pinot Gris vs Oregon Pinot GrisPouilly-Fume or Loire Sauvignon Blanc versus New Zealand Sauvignon BlancVouvray vs South African Chenin Blanc

Pouilly-Fuisse vs California Chardonnay

Red Wine:

Bourgogne Rouge or Burgundy vs California or Oregon Pinot Noir
Chianti vs California Sangiovese

Bordeaux Merlot vs California Merlot
Northern Rhone vs Australian Shiraz

Italian Barbera vs California Barbera

Cahors vs Argentinian Malbec
Bourdeaux (left bank) vs California or Chile Cabernet