Difference between New World and Old World

I have no idea what New World and Old World wine is and what the difference between the two are. My general understanding are the techniques used in making wine. There must be more to it. 

Wine is grown in certain countries and some can trace their vines back to the Roman empire. These countries are Italy, France, Spain, Germany and Austria. These regions are classic wine growing regions and are therefore are classified as Old World style wine.  The New World wine growing regions are Australia, United States of America, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand among many others. 

The other way to differentiate between the two is the terroir. In Old World, the wine is terroir driven. Let me quickly explain terroir; it is basically the soil, climate, rain, temperature, hours of sunlight, water retention, slope and drainage and other environmental factors that give the wine certain characteristics such aroma and unique flavour. It is the reason why people can tell the difference between an Australian Cabernet Sauvignon and a French Cabernet Sauvignon. New World wines are less geared towards terroir.

And yes, there is a difference in New World and Old World techniques. In the Old World they rely more on terroir. While the New World are a lot more flexible on growing and making wine though they do consider environment an important factor in growing wine. 

The main differences between Old and New are the countries, terroir and techniques. On top of all this the two are colliding. Many New World vineyards are adopting Old World techniques and visa versa but you do still get your traditionalist that will only stick to the Old World. 

For me all this means is that there is more to explore in world wide wine, the new www.  

Peace,

Cristian