AN INTRODUCTION INTO THE WORLD OF WINE

CLASS III

After studying and learning about the Origins and History of wine, we will now
make a difference between Old World and New World Wine regions.

OLD WORLD VS NEW WORLD

Vineyards have been established all around the globe, but almost entirely between 30° -
50° degrees latitude.

Vines flourish in two quite narrow bands of latitude approximately 30-50° north and 30-
50° south of the equator.

The 1st «vitis vinifera» was brought to America (the New World) by the Spanish explorers.
It was first seen in Santo Domingo during the 2nd trip of Cristopher Columbus, but it didn
´t prosper in these tropical areas.

It was in Peru and Chile where these vines were cultivated successfully. Also in Mexico,
California and Argentina.

In Argentina, vines were introduced in different waves:

 ● The first wave came from Europe, especially from Spain and settled in Río de La
Plata (1536)

● The second wave came from Peru, entering from the North crossing Bolivia and
Chile

● The 3rd wave came from the West and settled in Mendoza and also in Santiago del
Estero, in 1561.

The Old World (Europe) and the New

The New World had a lot to contend with in trying to compete in the Old World
marketplace. Why would people buy some strangely named bottle from California or
Australia? At first, the New World competed by simply "borrowing" famous names from
the Old World: "Australian Burgundy" and "Californian Chablis" became commonplace.
International law soon caught up with this practice however, ruling that Burgundy or
Chablis can only be made in Burgundy or Chablis. So even though the New World producer
could use identical grapes and identical methods to produce a high quality version of one
of these famous wines, he couldn't use any name that the consumer would recognise.

Rather than battle against tradition and prejudice, the solution the New World arrived at
was to use varietal labelling. They attempted to change the whole way people from the
Old World thought about, talked about, selected, chose between, and most importantly,
bought wine. New world wine producers educated people in the grapes from which the
wine was made by stressing this, rather than the place of origin on the label. Soon
people got used to the idea of buying a bottle of chardonnay, a bottle of sauvignon
blanc, a bottle of merlot or a bottle of pinot noir.

This is perhaps the biggest change ever in the way wine is regarded by consumers:
ordinary people learned to recognise wine by the grape variety used. In turn this lead to
a willingness to experiment: to buy and experience the type of wine they like, no matter
where it was made, New World or Old World. Even France has recognised that they must
move in to this modern world in order to compete and survive. Maybe not in the great,
classical regions, but in the simpler country wines the naming of grapes on labels is now as
common in Europe as anywhere in the winemaking world.

Some wine producing countries from the Old World are:

● FRANCE

● ITALY

● SPAIN
 ● PORTUGAL

● GERMANY

Some wine producing countries from the New World are:

● The USA: California, Washington, Oregon, New York

● CANADA
● AUSTRALIA
● NEW ZEALAND
● SOUTH AFRICA: Cape Town
● SOUTH AMERICA: ARGENTINA, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia
 It´s time to work!  

● In a World map, trace the different countries and Wine regions

around the world. Make a difference between Old World and
  New World wine regions. (Make the references of the map)

Attention! The map and all the activities you do in the different
classes will be presented at the end of the course.