Old Wine ? or New Wine - What's the Difference ????

More diverse tastes and globalism have blurred the distinctions between old- and new-world wines, so much so that many new-world styles could these days pass for old, and vice versa.

It is appropriate to use the term “new world” in relation to wine. Over the past couple of decades, it’s been a useful, if lazy, shorthand for the mainly southern hemisphere countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and South Africa that provide much of our more affordable drinking, but I don’t think most people who use the term see it as derogatory or would want to imply that new is inferior to old.

For a start, most of these so-called “new-world” countries also have old vines, as well as winemaking traditions that go back at least 100 years (New Zealand’s achievement, however, is more remarkable, because it doesn’t). Australia’s grenache and shiraz, South Africa’s chenin blanc (which used to be known as Steen) and pinotage, Chile’s Carignan and pais, which was introduced by Spanish missionaries in the 16th century, still produce remarkable and distinctive wines. (South Africa’s Old Vine Project, for example, has done a great job of highlighting the value of that country’s older vineyards.)

Tastes have also changed, so you now find some “old-world” producers making wines in a bolder, more “fruit-forward” (that’s wine speak for “fruity”) style, while many “new-world” producers are embracing more traditional methods such as the use of amphoras, natural yeasts and foot treading, while the natural wine movement is almost as popular in the new world as it is in the old.

Even regions as traditional as Bordeaux and Rioja will have exponents of different styles. In Rioja, for example, you can find bodegas making classic, oaky gran reservas and other producers, such as Roda, who use names rather than classifications for their top cuvées.

This can cause tensions with producers who feel that the regulatory bodies are too restrictive and no longer represent the way they want to make wine. So much so, in some cases, that famous appellations such as Saint-Émilion and Cava have seen member producers split away, most recently Château Angélus from Saint-Émilion.

So how can you tell who is in the “old” camp and who’s “new”? Ask your local wine merchant. Look at the imagery and description on the label. Or just buy it, try it and make up your own mind.

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