European vs. New World Wines
by karl 10 months ago

It's hard to make sweeping generalizations about what European and "New World" wines really are (USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Chili and Argentina). There are two schools of thought for wine: What wine is... and what wine should be. The following is a presentation of the newcomer wine-producing countries.

Wine Areas

Europe, in particular France, Italy, Spain, Allemagne, and Portugal have been producing wine since the time of the Roman conquests. Today Europe produces 74% of the world's wine (this figure is shrinking) and consumes 70%. This region's wine has always been a part of its history.

In most cases, it was the European settlers who introduced the actual vines and wine into the New World countries between the 15th and 18th centuries. This is why the varietals used are mostly French, German, Italian and Spanish.

Laws

European wine production is dictated by strict wine legislation, particularly when it comes to an appellation of controlled origin or AOC (Appellation d'Origine Controllée in France). Other countries have their own equivalents. What's amazing for the layman is the bureaucratic control of minutiae related to harvest methods, vines used, grape origin, additives and cultural practices. These rules are legally enforced. A vintner can lose his AOC for watering his plants.

Conversely, laws outside of Europe are much more lax. In California or Australia, the grape can come from a vineyard more than 150 miles away from where it is made into wine and put into a bottle. Irrigation is a common practice, in particular in dryer regions. To have the words, "Bottled and vinted by," means in California that only 51% of the wine is bottled and fermented by the producer in question. The emphasis is put more on creating a wine that will correspond to consumer demand.

Means of Production

Professional unions and committees help to centralize production and advertisement for wine in Europe. Producers in the old country mostly work within smaller frameworks. The average square footage of a vineyard in France is about 20 acres. Cut to California, where wineries often belong to larger groups owning many different estates. These conglomerates have substantial financial and marketing power and can undertake marketing campaigns in order to please the maximum amount of consumers.

The volumes created by these wineries are breathtaking. Annual production from the Monterey-Blackstone Winery is a heart-stopping 9.5 million gallons. This type of production requires very specialized technologies. It could be said that European production is much traditional and New World production is more industrial and calculated. At big Californian wineries, there are marketing people who direct production based on demand, market strategies, and wine volume targets.

Quality

It's hard to generalize about the quality of the New World wines. Remember that exported wines are rarely an mirror image of wines in the domestic market. Many California Chardonnays found in the domestic markets are more expensive than those found in other countries. The New World wine producers can make a decent (and sometimes excellent) wine, just as well as Europe, in fact. Indeed, the New World seems to be better at selling itself. It can turn out more wines that are fruitier and easier to drink than their European counterparts.

However, these large-scale production, mass-marketed wines are often criticized for their homogeneity. Critics say they are sweet, fragrant but they have little structure, their taste fading fast once they're down your throat. This may be true, but their prices are much easier to swallow. It all depends on what you're looking for as a wine drinker.

Europe, new world, legislation, laws, production, marketing