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The Old World is generally referring to winemaking traditions,

winemaking countries in Western Europe.

The New World generally refers to everywhere else.

Although, some places in the quote and quote, New World had been making lines for

a few centuries.

And are undecided as to whether they want to consider themselves Old World or

New World.

South Africa would be an example of that.

So the Old World has centuries, maybe even a couple of

millennia of experience with what to grow and where to grow it, but

many places in the Old World are traditionally cooler grape growing areas.

And cooler grape growing conditions tend to give rise to acidic flavor profiles.

I had a winemaker from Southern France speaking to me a few years ago,,

and we were discussing Old World versus New World.

And he said, in the Old World we are very lucky because we have

all of this experience and we have developed our traditions.

We have developed regulations stating what we can do and what we can't do,

what we can grow and what we may not grow, and so forth.

And that really helps in our marketing.

So it's very, very easy for us to sell our tradition.

He said, and I thought he had a little note of jealousy in his voice, he said,

whereas in the New World you are still developing your traditions.

And so that was a really interesting thing to hear.

Someone who was thankful for the Old World concepts and

winemaking culture that they had been born into and that were

continuing to follow versus the yearning for perhaps doing something that was new.

Something that was a little bit out of the box.

So in the Old World, again,

the implication is wine growing areas that are often cooler,

producing wines that are leaner, maybe having a little more subtle aromatics.

Particularly with the varieties that are used.

There may be local stylistic traditions that are in-place and

that are actually set into regulation.

The wines may be a bit lighter in the body.

And they may, across the board, have lower alcohol.

They may have highly evolved regulations that limit what they can do.

And lists of grape varieties that they are allowed to use versus

others that they are not allowed to use.

The wines may be a little more herbaceous and earthy and mineral-y.

And we love them for that.

We love them for that.

By contrast, the New World sites are often warmer, riper,

higher alcohol, have more developed fruit flavors,

translating into more ripe fruit flavors in the wine.

They may have a lower overall acidity.

Of course, there are many classic exceptions of that.

And also, more winemaker intervention.

For example, the use of oak in secondary fermentation and so forth.

So the Old World evokes traditions,

long evolution of the cultural context in which the wines are made.

And also, there's an important parallel in this evolution

of winemaking style with the rise and development in evolution in of cuisine,

of food, of other agricultural crops in each of those areas.

That's an important thing to note.

And maybe I should mention at this point in time.

When some of my students ask me, what should I serve with this wine?

Or some of my young chef student say, what should I cook to go with this wine?

I say, if you have no clue, travel in your mind, or travel on your laptop,

[LAUGH] to where in the Old World that wine originates.

And then look at the culture that surrounds it, look at the evolution of

the food culture that surrounds it, and you will very, very quickly learn what is

served with that wine, where it was born, where it was born in the Old World sense.

And you will almost never go wrong.

Then, of course, if you have a New World equivalent, you have to compensate for

the higher alcohol, the riper flavors, and so on and so forth.

But it's a very, very good first step to take if you have no idea.

We'll come to that later in our class when we talk about the marriage or

the pairing of wine and food.

Old World Versus New World Wines

Wine Tasting: Sensory Techniques for Wine Analysis

Meet the Instructors