Great Wine Made Simple - Andrea Immer [49]
The style of Old World wines (mostly French, Italian, Spanish, and German selections in the average store) is generally subtler, more refined, and more understated. That does not necessarily mean light. Contrast that with the New World wine style, which can be described as bolder, more intense, more lush, or more opulent. The shorthand comparison we used above puts it most succinctly—subtle (Old World) versus bold (New World).
There are two root causes of the overall style difference between Old World and New World wines, both of them compelling. These are: the different growing conditions, and the differences in tradition and taste.
First, the differences in Old World versus New World growing conditions bring about the subtle versus bold contrast in their wine styles. Most of the classic, Old World wine-growing regions have temperate climates, generally ranging from cool to moderate. As you tasted in Chapters 3 and 4, a cool-to-moderate climate for growing the grapes generally yields lighter body and less intensity in the wine. Most of the New World countries, by contrast, have their wine regions concentrated in warmer, sunnier spots, which make for fuller-bodied, bolder-style wines. Let’s recall the cool- to warm-climate fruit spectrum in the Flavor Map:
The last line of this chart simply layers the Old World/New World style comparison on top of the fruit flavor differences we have already explored through tasting the same grape grown in different climate zones. Remember to think of the cool to moderate to warm spectrum not as three discrete style categories, but rather as a style range with almost infinite possibilities at every point along the continuum—the very thing that makes wine so exciting and offers a lifetime of delicious exploring.
The Old World is also more likely to have poor, rocky soil. In the Old World, where wine history stretches back centuries, wine growing emerged almost by accident. Grape vines were planted in places where pretty much nothing else of value would grow. In an agricultural economy, as countries like France, Italy, Spain, and Germany once were, it made sense to use every inch of land for some crop. And as we pointed out in Chapter 3, vines love to tough it out in poor, low-fertility soil, often owing their higher quality, subtlety, and elegance to the struggle. Let’s look at some examples:
One of the world’s most famous wine regions is Bordeaux, France. Its highest quality, most collectible, most expensive wines come from vineyards whose soils are beds of almost pure gravel, often fist-size, with barely any dirt even visible. I know this firsthand, having picked grapes during the harvest of 1990. Unlike high arbor-type grape vines you might have seen, these clusters grow close to the ground, so you often have to kneel to get them—and it really hurts to kneel on a pile of fist-size rocks for three weeks straight. (At least 1990 was a good year.)
The great Port wines come from vineyards in the Douro (DUHR-oh) region of Portugal. The vineyards are planted on terraces cut into steep cliffs that rise up on either side of the Douro River. Here, there is really no soil at all, but rather pure rock, so dynamite is used to blast a hole for planting each vine.
The Mosel (MOE-zuhl) region of Germany is named for the Mosel River. Her best vineyards are planted on banks of almost pure slate that rise up from the water at nearly a 30-degree incline. They are so steep that during harvest, the pickers must secure themselves with ropes like rock climbers, to keep from slipping.
The second reason for the style differences between Old World and New World wines is differences in Old World and New World tastes and traditions. In most Old World wine countries, wine (and life) revolves around food. As such, wines are crafted as culinary tablemates, styled to share the stage as a supporting actor and complement to the food. Look at the food itself. From the classic sauces of French haute cuisine to the mellow suckling pig of Spain to the pastas and risottos of Italy, there is no shortage