New World for drinking, Old World for eating

New World vs Old World wines

There was a time when wine was a local product. We drank that was made in our region. There was probably lots of bad wine around, but that wasn't so much of a problem in a world in which the drinking water was full of toxic bacteria. Even if the wine was bad, at least it was safe to drink.

Today wine is an international beveridge and our cellars are stocked with wines from the four corners of the world. It's enough to make the heart faint when you go into a wine store and you're greeted with banners proclaiming "France," "Australia" and "Chile." As I mentioned before, it's enough to send you screaming back to the beer section, although that section is getting pretty international itself.

So you're walking into a wine store. How do you know one wine from the next? I'll give you a BIG shortcut. The secret is understanding the difference between Old World wine styles and New World wine styles. Here's where that difference came from.

Back in the day, Europe ruled the wine world. Wines from France and Italy were found on the best tables in London and New York. These two countries accounted for the bulk of international wine sales so their wine styles dominated the international palate.

And how would you describe those styles? In a word--"food-friendly." In those two cultures, every meal was accompanied by wine, and so the wine styles tended towards the styles that go well with food.

What does that mean? First of all, food wines generally have higher acidity. If you taste them on their own they will taste tart, and perhaps not as pleasant. But to me that is a good sign, because it is the acidity in wine that breaks down food texture and helps flavours emerge. Also food wines (i.e. Old World wines) have lower sugar levels. Those of you who shun white wines (you know who you are!) are drinking from the wrong continent. Lower sweetness means less sugar to get in the way of the flavours of the food. Another characteristic of Old World wines is a lower alcohol level. If you're drinking all day, as they do in many Mediterranean countries, you'd better stay away from those 16% monsters.  Finally Old World wines make much more selective use of oak barrels in flavouring the wines. Again, this because oak flavours interfere with the flavours of the food. As my straight-talking wife puts it, "If I wanted to taste wood I'd chew on a two-by-four."

Then things changed. Americans discovered wine. But American (i.e. New World) drinkers, raised in the frontier saloon era of all-day drinking of rot gut whisky, brought their consumption habits to wine. We're talking cocktail parties, bar drinking, patio drinking, even football-game drinking (look out Budweiser!).

Obviously the style of wine consumed on the patio is dramatically different from the style of dinner table wine. Thus New World wine styles. To figure that out, just reverse the above-mentioned characteristics of Old World wines: think higher alcohol, higher sweetness levels (in whites AND reds), higher oakiness and lower acidity.

Those of you who have been reading my column for a while know my bias: I like wines that go with food. I like the crisp, palate-cleansing tickle of wine's acidity. I like fruit flavours over oak flavours. I like wines where the fruit speaks louder than the sugar. I like to eat. And I believe in drinking food-friendly wines because it encourages me to eat when I'm drinking, which is a good thing. I favour the Mediterranean-style wine-and-food lifestyle.

You'll also know that I also believe every wine has its place. So you won't see me turning down a glass of oaky Californian Chardonnay either. (Come to think of it you won't see me turning down a glass of wine, period.)

So how do we find Old World wines on the store? Obviously you can troll the French, Italian or Spanish section. Those wines are more likely to be food wines. But it's not guaranteed. New World wine styles have become so popular, especially in the world's fastest-growing wine market, the United States, that even Old World producers have been influenced.

There is, however, one sure-fire way to determine the wine style: check the percentage of alcohol. Lower alcohol levels mean less ripe grapes, and that means higher acidity, lower sweetness levels (unless you're in the German Riesling section), and more judicious use of oak flavours. So check the little number that's on all bottles of wine. Levels in the 11 to 13 per cent region are very likely drier, crisper and less oaky. Wines in the 14 to 15 per cent region are going to be softer, sweeter, and oakier.

Of course none of this is infallable. One of the really interesting trends in the wine world is to see New World producers creeping towards Old World styles. They perceive that their consumers' tastes are becoming more mature as they learn to live healthily with wine. North American wine drinkers are realizing they can't drink 15 per cent monsters all the time, and that they really don't go with food as well.

So we have the ironic situation of Old World producers going towards riper grapes with higher alcohol levels just as New World producers start picking their grapes earlier to "preserve acidity. Maybe they'll meet, mid-Atlantic, to thrash out what's best. I hope I'm there with a glass.

Cheers!

Keith

Keith Watt is proprietor of Morning Bay Vineyards on Pender Island, BC