Old World vs New World Wines: Why do some labels show regions and others grape varieties? Find out which suits you best while we explore each approach!
“An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools.”
– Ernest Hemingway
Ever wonder why in some wine labels the grape variey is front and center, while in others you’ll only find a region? Let’s talk about Old World vs New World wines, and how they approach labeling.
Picture this. You’re looking at the wine selection and getting ready to pick a good red for the evening. The first bottle to catch your attention is a Pinot Noir from, let’s say, the Casablanca Valley in Chile; or make it one from the Willamette Valley in Oregon if that’s more familiar to you. But there’s another bottle that catches your eye: a nice red Burgundy. Which one should you choose? Clearly, if you love Pinot Noir … well, this doesn’t help. You probably already knew this, but red Burgundy is made with Pinot Noir grapes. If you didn’t know, you’re in for a challenge, because nowhere on a Burgundy label will it say the grape variety.
What gives? How come New World wine labels are more about the varietal, whereas their Old World counterparts focus on the region? Let’s talk about it!
Old World Wines: The Classics Never Go Out of Style
Why do most European wine labels show only the region? There is a short answer, but we’ll get back to it later. For now, let’s take the scenic route instead. Winemakers traditionally used whatever grapes grew nearby to make wine. Which varietals they were was less important than the quality of the wine that they turned into, so Old World viticulturists gradually found the best grapes for the land they had.
Also, people in the market for wine neither knew nor cared which grapes went into their wine, only that it tasted good. The problem? Each Domaine[i] did its own thing, so wine quality varied significantly. Since buyers purchased wine from an entire region rather than individual wineries, winemakers joined forces to establish quality standards.
The Burgundian Example
Let’s circle back to that red Burgundy you were looking to buy. Clearly, only a wine made from red grapes in Burgundy—a region a bit to the north and to the east of central France—can be called a red Burgundy. In this example, by “red grapes”, I mean Pinot Noir, and only Pinot Noir, and that’s because of regulations, our short answer mentioned above.
You see, it’s not that other red varietals can’t be grown in Burgundy, it’s that the regulations state that if you want to label your red wine as a Burgundy, it must be made with 100% Pinot Noir grapes. If you use other red varietals, you must label the wine differently[ii]. It gets more complicated in other regions: six varietals are the traditional grapes of Bordeaux wine, but a few others were added due to climate change concerns. Chianti Classico is another example. At least 80% of the wine must be made with the Sangiovese grape. The rest can be any blend of up to a dozen grapes allowed by their rules.
Regulations complicated the wine maps of Europe, but winemakers are unlikely to want to change them. Burgundy winemakers have perfected red wine over centuries, and no one wants to risk lowering the quality. As time passed, reputations grew, and now it’s up to the wineries to uphold it. Why fix what hasn’t been broken in centuries? So, today, the short answer to why do most European wine labels show only the region is because of tradition.
Right, but what about the other side of the Old World vs. New World Wines debate? What makes New World wines different?
Photo by Jan Van Bizar
New World Wines: The Bold and the Brave
New World winemakers didn’t have to follow foreign traditions, and as a result didn’t feel the obligation to make, for instance, a classic Bordeaux blend. If they wanted to make a Merlot—Zinfandel[iii] blend, they were free to do so. And if what they wanted was a single varietal, like a 100% Merlot, they went ahead and did it too!
I switched to Bordeaux for a quick minute to make a point using blends as an example. But now we can return to Burgundy, which is a single grape wine. Pinot Noir grew well in many places of the New World, including Oregon and Casablanca. However, Pinot Noir made in those places is not allowed to be called Burgundy. France wouldn’t allow it even if Oregon or Casablanca wanted it, which I doubt they do. So, they decided to just market it with the grape name in the label.
Winemakers made a smart commercial choice, knowing that building a regional reputation in the New World would be difficult. They didn’t have centuries of trial and error, like Old World regions did.
Today we know where some of those good regions are—Willamette or Casablanca for Pinot Noir, for instance[iv]—but it’s too late to change the label to show only the region. In the New World, varietals, often paired with the region, drive reputation. There’s no reason to change something that has been working for the past few decades.
Old World vs. New World Wines: The Showdown
Is one system better than the other? I don’t think so. Let’s go over the fors and againsts of each and try to figure it out:
Old World Regions
- Pro: Years, sometimes centuries, of fine-tuning their methods and regulations end up making excellent wines. You typically have different quality tiers[v], and if you understand them, it’s easy to pick the best wine for your budget within a region.
- Pro: If you find a region you like, you can buy wines blindly from it, as it’s unlikely that they will dissatisfy. I haven’t tried all Chianti Classico wines, but I know I like them and would blindly pick any from a wine list without fear of disappointment.
- Con: It’s not friendly for beginners. Sure, Burgundy and Bordeaux are somewhat well known, but do you know what types of wines are made in other places in France, like Rhône or Jura? What about other places in Europe, like one of the twenty regions in Italy, or the one hundred and thirty-nine regions in Spain?
- Con: Old World regions are slow—often reluctant—to adapt, precisely because of the deep bureaucracy in their regulations. A problem likely to increase in the coming years because of climate change. Soon, the best grapes for those terroirs might not be the ones planted today. Will they proactively meet the challenge? Can you imagine Bordeaux without Cabernet Sauvignon?
New World Varietals
- Pro: Labels are straightforward and easy to read. Or at least all the information you need is there. It makes wine easy to sell, easy to buy, easy to describe, and easy to select. Like many things New World, it’s pragmatic.
- Pro: Unburdened by tradition and regulations, experimentation is common in New World wines. It’s the best way to discover new (maybe better?) grapes for certain terroirs. Carménère, as it happens, grows better in Colchagua than its homeland in Bordeaux.
- Con: Varietals make different tasting wines depending on where they come from. They share something in common, sure, but a Pinot Noir from Willamette is different from one from Casablanca, and they’re both different from a red Burgundy.
- Con: There are too many varietals for us to know them all. Are you familiar with Tannat, Tempranillo, or Torrontés[vi]? You might be intimidated enough not to buy lesser-known grapes, but you might be missing out! Some of those obscure varietals are wonderful!
So, what’s better? Should the Old World ditch tradition, overwrite regulations, and turn to varietals? Of course not. In the 1970s, certain Tuscan winemakers decided to ignore local regulations and plant French grapes with fantastic results. Today we know those wines as Super Tuscans. However, it would be difficult for all of Europe to replicate this success story. The Montalcino region is making fantastic wines with the Sangiovese grape, and they have no reason to want to change that.
The Last Drop
And should the New World think about starting regional traditions? Should Willamette be thinking about regulations to make it so that only Pinot Noirs can have the region’s name in the label? I don’t think so. They’re doing great now, but they’re also still experimenting with different varietals, and there’s no reason to stop them. Maybe they’ll find the next big thing!
I’m curious, what’s your take on this? Do you prefer Old World’s traditions, or are you all about the New World’s innovative approach? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Also, let me know if you’ve had a red Burgundy. What about Pinot Noir from Willamette or Casablanca?
The smart move was always to find the correct terroir for the right grape. As long as that’s the case, I don’t care what is or isn’t on the label.
Photo by John Ioannidis
[i] I’m using “Domaine” so that I can stay within the “Burgundy” example throughout the article. A Domaine is the term used in Burgundy for the estate where the wine comes from. If I was using “Bordeaux” instead, I would’ve said Chateaux.
[ii] A good example of this is Beaujolais, which is both a wine type and a sub-region in the south of Burgundy. There, red wine is made with the Gamay grape.
[iii] You probably know Merlot. Zinfandel is a grape with Croatian roots, but also planted in Italy under the name Primitivo. It’s a popular grape in U.S. vineyards.
[iv] Excitingly, new matches between regions and varietals can still be discovered. In the south of Chile, for instance, the Itata valley makes phenomenal wines with the Cinsault grape.
[v] In Burgundy, and from lower to higher quality, those tiers are: Regional (it will say only Bourgogne on the label), Village (the name of a specific village will be on the label), Premier Cru, and Grand Cru (in the last two, the name of the village will be on the label, but it will also say if it’s Premier Cru or Grand Cru. The higher the tier, the higher the price.
[vi] And those are only some of the T’s!
Cover Image: Guy pouring a glass of wine. Photo by Laker.
Leave a Reply