New term or old?
An earnest debate took place around our table the other night about the term “New World”. It arose because we were trying the wine reviewed elsewhere in this feature, the “Symbolo” from the Cretan winery, Lyrarakis. “Very New World”, somebody said.
Centuries old though the term New World may be, it has only been applied to wine during the last three or four decades. In the first half of the 20th century (and among wine snobs some time well into the second half) “wine came from France”. In a famous and at one time indispensable book about wine first published in 1920, “Notes on a Cellar Book” by George Saintsbury, there is fulsome praise for Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy, a section on Sherry, Port and Madeira and then a chapter called “Hock and the rest”. Not a word of Australia, South Africa or anywhere in “the New World”. Reading this priggish, pompous, snobby text makes me wonder about its incredible popularity!
At the time of the book, you could buy wines from Australia in Britain. There were agents in London from the 1880s onwards, as my picture shows, who represented a number of producers (many with German origins – hence Riesling as an Australian wine).
The phrase “New World Wines” came into use around 1970, somewhat as a patronising term denoting something cheap and cheerful wines from the Cape, California or Australia. It was the wines themselves that changed the wine business for ever. Without the names of chateaux or estates to put on the label, and from places not previously known, the winemakers turned to the name of the grape variety to sell the wine. Suddenly, we were confronted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc and not “Chateau La Borie” or “Chianti”.
So, New World made its first mark. And it wasn’t long before it made more. Wine drinkers accustomed to the rather thin and sharp wines of France and Italy fell in love with the bright, brash, fruity and often cheaper wines from far away. They were more alcoholic, too. And then came critical acclaim, led by American Robert Parker.
The French industry responded slowly, even when New World wines beat French in blind tastings. So, New World became a term of praise. When Europe awoke, it did its best (climate notwithstanding) to produce fruit-driven wines that (a) please Robert Parker and (b) competed with the upstarts from the Americas, South Africa and the Antipodes.
So, today, “New World” not only denotes geographical origin, it denotes a cert style as well. Our dinner table discussion went on to consider into which style one would categorise Cyprus wines. More of that another time.
