Comparing Wine From the Old and New World
The initial ” New World ” winemakers in the 18th and 19th century generally adopted the principles of the Wine-making methods seen in Europe during those times, with the intention of making wines which strongly resembled those obtainable in Europe. Variations in environments and soil meant that they often needed to deal with very different conditions than they were accustomed to. A good example of this is Californian producers who discovered that the heat was too much to create superior grapes, until they found the Napa area where mountains cooled the fruit by drawing in cooler air from the ocean.
New World bottles of wine are usually understood to be wines produced in places established by colonies of European exploration, which started with some of the longer expeditions in the 15th century. Simply put, just about everywhere aside from Europe. It was during the 1960s, when practices were being questioned, and hurdles were coming down, that gave New World Wine its chance for international popularity. Brought on within the US by individuals like Robert Mondavi and in Australia by Max Schubert of Penfolds, there came the will to change and improve on the Old order. This arrived in combination with a complete re-think of how to connect and market the wine.
Initially, the New World had been simply using prominent names from the Old World; “Australian Burgundy” and “Californian Chablis” grew to become common. International law soon caught up with this practice, however, ruling that Burgundy or Chablis are only able to be made in Burgundy or Chablis. so even though the New World producer could use identical grapes and identical techniques to produce a high quality version of one of these renowned wines, he couldn’t use any name that the consumer would recognize. The producers soon came to the conclusion that it was the flavour belonging to the different grape varieties which was the single most important factor in their wines, and arrived at the solution of varietal labelling.They featured the grape variety on the label, their own name, and left it at that. This has changed the whole way we think about, talk about, choose - and more importantly - purchaseWine. We now know the importance of the different grapes, as it is these varieties, rather than the place of origin, that is stressed on the label. We’re all now accustomed to ordering a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir or a Merlot. No other concept has made the enjoyment of Wine so easily accessible to every one. This accessibility has resulted in a willingness to experiment: to purchase and experience the kind ofwines we enjoy, no matter where 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 virtually as popular in Europe as anywhere in the winemaking World.
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