Old World and New World are terms one will commonly hear or read in wine discussions. But, what is meant by these terms and what is the basis for their use?

The terms can be thought of in two ways. One is from an historical standpoint which would put Asia, the Mideast, Africa and Europe in the Old World camp and everyone else in the New World camp. However, this would hardly be accurate, since we don't know just how far back civilization goes back on the other continents. History is simply incomplete. From a wine perspective, the terms really refer to a general style of the wines produced due to accepted winemaking methods and prevailing climatic conditions. The Old World is really focused on a few key wine producing countries in Western Europe. These are France, Italy and Spain, that also happen to be the three leading producers of wine by far.

Old World climatic conditions coupled with Old World soil geology and Old World winemaking traditions produced a particular style, flavor and general structure. Old World wines were also closely associated with the wine growing regions they came from and the grapes that became dominant in those regions and were later codified into them. New World wines like those of South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile and the USA developed much later, largely due to colonization. The focus was based on imitation of the Old World classics but made in an environment that was on the whole much warmer and far less regulated with respect to varieties or vineyard and winemaking practices. This produced wines that were marketed by varietal grape names rather than historically famous place names because there was, as yet, none that were. The propensity was to produce wines from much riper grapes that created far more overtly flavorful wines with a different structure, less acidic and less tannic feeling.

In time, New World origins developed distinctive status and names like Napa Valley, Barossa, Mendoza, Marlborough and Stellenbosch took on meaning much like Bourgogne, Bordeaux, Mosel, Rioja and the like. One thing that did not change though was the primacy of grape variety over place of origin. In the New World they co-exist with equal marketing importance. Wine regions in the New World may be best known for a variety or two but they can legally grow whatever they want. The Old World regions are often limited to a specified number of grapes in order to ensure a particular and tradition type of wine. Vineyard plantings and even the final blends are regulated by a complex assortment of permitted percentages of various grape varieties. Harvest dates, vineyard practices, winemaking techniques, maximum yields, aging regimens, minimum alcohol by volume, earliest release dates and so on are closely regulated. In the New World, things are driven by the producers determination.

The constraints of Old World system produced wines that consistently fell within a narrow flavor profile. Climate in many areas played a significant role in the cooler Old World areas like Bordeaux, Champagne, Bourgogne, Piedmont, Trentino Alto Adige and so on. Even warmer areas like many parts of Spain, Southern France and Southern Italy produced wines that were structured with finer acid and tannin than most New World wines. Practices widely adopted in these areas guided the whole production process and delivered wines that fit within the traditional style for the region.

The New World really had no rules and one producer might emulate a certain region or producer from a famed region and another could care less, while another might emulate the style of another winemaker in their area and yet another could care less about any of that and just produce a wine that fit their taste.

Generally speaking then Old World wines tended to be more reflective of their place f origin, which producers in the area put the greatest emphasis on. They also, due to climate and somewhat to unique soil geology, produced wines of structure that were less fruit driven and less reliant on winemaking intervention or styling. New World wines were crafted for appeal and made to impress rather than purity of a terroirs expression, since none had been established for New World locales. Though that is slowly changing as specific terroirs are being identified and marketed as such throughout the New World wine regions, the difference in general structure and style is still noticeable. New World wines have a much more substantial fruit and extract presence, more toned down acidity, riper tannins that are more approachable early on and a different set of aromatic and flavor compounds that are less earthy and terroir distinctive.

The difference is not one of absolute quality but of stylistic expression. A Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon blend will be different from a Left Bank Bordeaux, though they will share some similarities. A Malbec from Mendoza will smell and taste different from a Malbec from Cahors but again will share some similarities.

So the terms Old World and New World are a categorization of winemaking and production philosophy and regulations. One seeks to produce wines that protect the historically unique style associated with a region and the other attempts to produce the best wine it can, while at times emulating a benchmark Old World region. The growing conditions, viticultural, winemaking and production limitations or freedoms drive the difference in the general styles of the Old and New Worlds. The desire of vignerons to emulate certain aspects of the styles of the other World blurs that very distinction but it is limited by both the regulations in the Old World and the real differences in climatic and in some cases geologic conditions.

With the reality of shared winemaking techniques, philosophies and global market objectives, many New World wines seek to be more place expressive and many Old World wines seek to be more universally appealing. The distinctiveness of most Old World wines is rarely loss in the process, although terroir purist would likely disagree. The Premium New World wines have either long sought better balance and terroir expression or have recently boarded that train of thought. For the wine consumer, all of this has produced an even more diverse world of offerings and that is without doubt, a good thing.