Vine, Vineyard, Region Environment

Different countries, states, cities and suburbs can be either warm or cool, depending on the time of the year and whether you're close to the coast or inland. The same goes for; wine regions, vineyards and even the vines.

Vineyard climates are divided into the following three climates:

Macroclimate: this is the region of the vineyard, i.e. Hunter Vally, Barossa Valley, Margaret River, Yarra Valley etc.

Mesoclimate: this is the vineyard itself, e.g. Tempus Two, Yalumba, Evans & Tate, Penfolds, Yering Station etc.

Microclimate: this is the direct environment of the vines.

All these different types of climates effect wine production, then of course there is the terroir. As you can imagine vineyards are acres of vines and one end of the vineyard can be cooler or warmer than the other. The wine maker takes this into account when producing the best type of wine that nature has handed them in any given season.

Peace,
Cristian.

 "…Hang on, its a drink, its only a drink. It goes through our kidneys and then it goes into the great sewerage system. Lets have a bit of fun with it, it wasn't built to be serious it was built for enjoyment and discourse and humour."

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