No matter how long you’ve been drinking wine or how serious you are about the subject, there’s always something to learn.
Perhaps that’s why people are intimidated or sometimes think of wine as elitist. But our attitude toward wine is shaped by family heritage; if your ancestors grew up in Europe, particularly France, Italy, or Spain, then wine is probably not exotic.
In the “Old World,” wine is part of everyday life, regardless of class or socio-economic group.
In the “New World” United States, where the Puritans fled for a new life, attitudes toward alcohol (and sexuality) were more restrictive. When we finally embraced alcohol as a culture (beyond cocktails), beer became the popular everyday beverage of the middle class — that is, if they drank at all. Now, however, wine in the USA has come into its own.
Wine decisions are personal, which is why I encourage you all to taste, taste, and taste some more. The more you learn, the more joy you’ll experience as “wine-speak” begins to make sense. In most cases, professional wine critics don’t necessarily have a more sensitive palate, but they do have experience. They understand individual grape flavor profiles as well as the techniques to create “Old World” or “New World” styles.
Old World (European) wines are generally based on tradition and produced in a fashion that aims for subtle, refined flavors. New World wines (USA, Australia/New Zealand, Argentina/Chile, South Africa) are grown under different conditions and are unfettered by convention. Bold, intense flavors and a fuller-bodied style are the result. However, seeing a change in the marketplace and the popularity of these bolder flavors, Italian winemakers began planting Cabernet and Merlot and producing riper New World-style wines called “Super Tuscans” just to keep you on your toes.
The Old World styles are generally lighter on the palate, without the weighty mouth feel that comes with the ripeness of warmer climates. When you’re thinking about weight of wine, think of the continuum of dairy from skim milk to heavy cream. In wine, the spectrum is from the lightest whites (pinot grigio or the Italian sparkling wine, prosecco) to the ripest reds (Australian shiraz).
The challenge is that none of this is infallible. I recently tasted on the North Fork of Long Island, which is celebrating 40 years of winemaking. It’s a cool climate where the grapes ripen late, so I wasn’t surprised that the wines have distinct Old World flair. In a blind tasting, though, I would have guessed the wine was European.
When I’m looking just to drink a glass of wine without food, I usually opt for big fruity New World styles. If it’s cool outside, that means something red from Napa or Sonoma. As the weather gets warmer, white wines seem more appropriate. I love luscious New World chardonnay as long as the oak barrel aging is in balance with the fruit. Some friends in the wine biz crave sauvignon blanc from New Zealand with distinct grapefruity zip. In the springtime, it’s really refreshing to drink dry rosé; this is not a wine to fear but rather one to embrace.
So what have we learned? New World wines are best suited to simple food preparations where the wine is the star. But if you’ve got a special dish that needs to shine, the subtlety and acidity of an Old World wine will cleanse the palate between bites without overpowering the food. For homework, compare comparably priced Italian pinot grigio to an oaky California chardonnay. Or if you prefer reds, ask your wine store for Chianti and taste that next to an Australian shiraz. Or try both pairings; that’s when homework really gets to be fun.
This article appears in May 30 – Jun 5, 2013.