Old World vs. New World wines
Old World wines refer to any wine made in Europe, the Mediterranean basin, the Near East and North Africa. The term is used solely as a contrast description of New World wines. In very general terms, Old World wine techniques used in the vineyards and cellaring rely more on hundreds of years of tradition and less on science than its New World counterpart. The notion of “terroir” (all conditions used to grow and ferment grapes) is extremely important to Old World wine producers because geography ranks considerably higher than technique.
New World wines are all wines produced outside of Europe. The most prominent of these are wines from the United Sates (mainly California), Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America (Argentina and Chile being the best). New World wines list the grape varietals on the label while Old World tells you where the wines are from. New World wines are usually described as “fruit-forward,” emphasizing the tastes of the grape itself. Old World wines use techniques during production that focus on tastes found in the barrels, the soil content leading a more “restrained” version of the juice.
New World producers are not held back by tradition and are far more likely to experiment. The results are often referred to as “artisan” wines with big, bold, jammy flavors. These wines are meant to be drunk without food (but by no means should this lead you to believe they are not food friendly!). The Old World sees wine as a condiment to the foods grown in the same region and usually tastes better when paired with those foods.
Experiment with your friends to see if you can’t distinguish between the two styles. The easiest way to do this is to taste them “blind” (put both bottles in a brown paper bag and mix them up so no one knows which one is which). For the ultimate pairing experience, create recipes from foods that you know are grown in the region that the wine is from. Enjoy!