[MUSIC] Welcome back, in the previous lesson we discussed basic wine types. In this lesson, we will discuss old world versus new world wines. The Old World is generally referring to wine making traditions, wine making countries in Western Europe. The New World generally refers to everywhere else. Although some places in the quote unquote New World had been making wine for a few centuries 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 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 Pacific 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 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 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 regulations. The wines may be a bit lighter in 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, and 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 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 it 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 students say, what should I cook to go with this wine? If 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 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 in the pairing of wine and food. In this lesson, we discussed Old World versus New World wines. In our next lesson, we will turn our attention to climate and style.
