How to divide the old and new worlds of wine?

This article is taken from Li Xinglin's wine blog and does not represent the views of nine tigers. com。

When chatting with some wine lovers recently, I was often asked how to know the topic of old world and new world wines. My understanding can be roughly divided into three levels, one is the definition of this concept, the other is the difference between two world wines, and the third is the development trend.

I. Concept definition

It is said that this concept was written by British wine writer Hugh? Hugh johnson. The Wine Story translated and published by Chinese mainland contains the words "traditional wine-producing countries" and "emerging wine-producing countries", which tells the stories of several European wine-producing countries in the "old world" and "new world", such as the United States and Australia, but this concept is not clearly defined (perhaps more clearly described in other works). Judging from Johnson's literal description, this is an overview of distinguishing wine styles according to the geographical location of wine producing countries. The ancient European wine-producing countries belonged to the "old world", including France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, and naturally Hungary, Greece and other Central and Eastern European countries and regions. The corresponding "emerging" wine producing countries are collectively called "New World", including South Africa, the United States, Chile and Argentina, Australia and New Zealand.

I understand: Johnson's above distinction (concept) is an inaccurate concept, which was not clear at the beginning of its definition. For example, do Turkish and Sepp Lu Si wines refer to the old world concept? Are China and Japanese wines the "new world" that Johnson refers to? In fact, there is a concept of regional politics-culture centered on Europe behind this initial definition. The "new world" refers to the former European colonial countries, and the colonial countries and regions in the 18 and 19 centuries have become independent emerging countries at the beginning of the 20th century. "New" refers to a country that broke away from the "old" suzerain and became "new". The government is new and the politics is new, but the cultural tradition may not be completely divorced and completely transformed. It still has a "blood relationship" and is inextricably linked, but the old traditional "soil" has been improved, and the cultural genes of new immigrants in the new world will inevitably undergo new variations. Then there is the second meaning-the wine styles of the two worlds are different.

Second, what's the difference?

My understanding can be summarized as follows:

1, the style of wine in the old world is to abide by tradition and advocate tradition, represented by French wine. From the selection of grape varieties, grape planting to wine brewing (harvesting, squeezing, fermentation, blending and aging), we basically respect the traditions that have lasted for hundreds to thousands of years, even family traditions.

The style of new world wine is more prominent in innovation and reform, which is improved by experiment and inheritance of tradition. The varieties of wine grapes have been improved, the planting techniques have been improved, the brewing concept has been modernized, the production organization has been modernized, and the appearance has really changed. The "newness" reflected in the taste and other sensory qualities of wine.

2. Old world wine is an art and craft passed down from history. It originated from the cultural and artistic genes spread during the Renaissance in the Middle Ages. Most of them are carefully carved and meticulous to the point of being almost harsh. This wine farmer = artist flavor can be better reflected in French Burgundy wine and German white wine.

New world wines are more industrial products. On the basis of technological innovation, it pursues the mode of production in the modern industrial era. Rational production and scientific technology are not only perceptual workshop-style production. It highlights the spiritual concept of industrial revolution, large-scale modernization and even transnational production technology and organization. There are hundreds of large vineyards in Chile, large wineries in Australia and modern technology, which all represent the style of "wine" in emerging countries.

3. Wine in the old world is producer-oriented, with traditional flavor and style and added historical and humanistic value, and it is a traditional consumer group or a consumer who pursues tradition.

New World wine is consumer-oriented, especially in emerging countries and regions, improving flavor and style to meet the needs of consumers. American wine, for example, was based on American consumers at first, and only after 1970s was it suitable for American consumers, thus gaining market position and influencing the trend of world wine flavor.

4. The old world wines are more traditional in the use of bottle labels and wine stoppers, while the new world wines are closer to the market, more scientific and innovative.

5. Old world wine still dominates the high-end consumer groups and has changed from fast-moving consumer goods to luxury consumer goods. The exterior of wine is more the value of social and cultural functions, and the value standard is different from the original.

New world wine is suitable for meeting the needs of the mass social strata, and the original value of alcoholic beverages is still playing a role. This is really a paradox-people who adhere to the tradition have abandoned the function of the original wine, and the wine determined to reform is still guarding the original purpose of wine as a gift from God.

In fact, this division itself is rough, so the difference is relative and even vague. Judging from the appearance of this concept, its mutual boundaries are vague. In today's era of globalization, it is even more vague, mutual penetration, mutual harmony and difficult to distinguish. This is the third question, the development trend of wine concepts in the old and new world. Most of the so-called wines in the New World are grape seeds from the old world in their hometown, which are cultivated and brewed in the traditional way in the New World, deliberately imitating the flavor of the wines in their hometown. It is more realistic to say that it was brewed in the new land. Even the natives of the New World, such as Chile, grow grapes and brew wine under the guidance of "foreign" priests from the Old World. If the original imitation doesn't taste like the teacher's, it is a problem to be improved. However, things didn't develop according to the teacher's imagination, but after the 1980s, the "teacher", a big winery in the old world, unconsciously moved closer to the production mode and style of the new world, and the wine tastes of the two worlds were merging, because the wine merchants in the old and new worlds realized that the market dominated the wine tastes, and the profit-seeking nature of capital dominated the wine merchants. Look at the global expansion of Mouton in Bordeaux-Rothschild winery in Zhang Zhilu. Just look at how many winemakers there are in French and Italian wineries. Before returning to their hometown and mastering the old wineries according to new ideas, they have "traveled around" many wineries in the new world. In a word, students in the former new world are becoming teachers in the old world today.

It is objective to divide a colorful wine world into old and new worlds and distinguish their different wine styles and tastes, but it is more of a historical and cultural concept. Even in countries, even countries recognized as the old world, the styles and tastes of wine are colorful and varied, because only in this way can wine be called wine.