How to Define Old World Wine

When I started my wine education way back when, (around the time my web editor was turning 6 or 7), it was pretty simple — the “Old World” was Europe and the “New World” was everywhere else.

This is no longer true.

The Old World and the New World

Old World producers were defined as countries that had a historical connection to fine wines, such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain. It was felt that their long and noble tradition of winemaking gave producers a greater sense of their land and that they were — unlike their New World brethren — able to use the land to give their wines great expression of origin, known as terroir.

The New World included North America, Australia, New Zealand and South America. These new-fangled countries were not tied to the soil or the traditions of the Old World and were able to plant what they wanted, where they wanted. As opposed to a Burgundian winemaker, who was limited to pinot noir or chardonnay on certain sites, a Californian producer could plant anything that would grow, wherever they wanted.

Terroir-Driven and Grape-Driven Wine

It was felt that the New World couldn’t understand terroir (the vineyard, site, soil, climate) and so producers made fruit-driven wines that reflected the purest expression of the grape. Of course, that is crap.

While centuries of tradition in Europe dictated which sites were best suited for certain grapes, modern technology was hard at work helping New World producers find the best sites for their grapes and unique terroir. Every place on earth has unique climate and geography and a skilled winemaker, with a skilled grape grower, can express that sense of place in the wine.

Many European producers make wine in the New World style, and many New World producers make unique, stylish and spicy wines that exhibit the sense of place of the Old World. It’s the syrah/shiraz debate on the global scale — syrah is lean and spicy, shiraz is jammy and fruity.

Classifying Wines as Old World or New World

This post was the result of an argument in the Wine Access office as to whether Israel is an Old World or New World wine producer. Furthermore, where does South Africa fit in? Or China?

There are lots of arguments for whether a wine is New World or Old World, but this is how I resolve the issue: were the Romans there?

If the Romans were responsible for grape growing and winemaking in the country or region in question, it’s an Old World wine. Conveniently, the Roman Empire was mostly focused on Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East, allowing us to safely exclude — and if there is evidence I missed, I would love to see it — South Africa, China and Canada.

Truthfully, with modern technology and winemaking techniques, it doesn’t really matter if a wine is New World or Old World. But hopefully after reading this blog post, you can make up your mind as to where Israel and South Africa belong.

Photo: Svetlana Zhukova