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New world

New World (GB)
Nuevo Mundo (ES)
Nouveau Monde (F)
Nuovo Mondo (I)
Novo Mundo (PO)
Nieuwe Wereld (N)

The New World is a historical European term for the Americas rediscovered by the Spaniards under Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) in 1492. It was contrasted with the well-known Old World, consisting of Europe, Asia and Africa. In a broader sense, Australia, New Zealand and Africa could also be counted as part of it in terms of viticulture.

Neue Welt - Columbus, Riebeeck, Stel, Cortez

Viticulture

The great voyages of discovery also opened up all these regions to viticulture, which was unknown there. The colonists brought European vines with them from their homeland and had a primarily religious motivation, namely to produce mass wine. On the North American continent, especially on the east coast, there were numerous wild vines growing in the forests, but targeted cultivation or winemaking was unknown to the indigenous peoples.

Due to the peculiar nature of the American vines, it was not possible to produce drinkable wine from them. The wines had a strawberry flavour that was unpleasant to European tastes or foxy. For this reason, European varieties began to be planted everywhere. In most cases, this was unsuccessful, as phylloxera, fungal diseases such as mildew, other diseases and extreme climatic conditions caused most attempts to fail. The causes remained unknown for centuries.

North America, Central America and South America

Things worked better in the south, where these diseases and pests did not exist to the same extent. Although there were indigenous vines in Central America, these were only used for consumption and cultivated viticulture was also unknown here. The first area to cultivate European vines was the Aztec empire on the 2,000 metre-high plain in central Mexico. Here, the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortez (1485-1547) probably had the first vines planted as early as 1522. However, most sources cite 1540 as the year in which the historic Misión (Listán Prieto) was introduced by Franciscan monks. This was subsequently continued in Argentina, Chile, Peru and other South American countries. Mostly by missionaries from various Roman Catholic monastic orders, vineyards were planted in the present-day US states of Virginia (1619), New Mexico (1629) and California (1769), among others.

South Africa, Australia and New Zealand

The Dutchman Jan van Riebeeck (1619-1677) planted the first vines near Cape Town in 1655, which was the beginning in South Africa. However, Governor Simon van der Stel (1639-1712), who founded the famous Constantia vineyard in 1685, is regarded as the father of South African viticulture. Australia was opened up to viticulture from 1788, when an English convict ship under Captain Arthur Phillip landed in Sydney Harbour. This was followed in 1819 by New Zealand, where vines originating from Australia were planted on the North Island. Viticulture in the countries of the New World reached its first peaks 200 years ago. In the 18th century, wines from South Africa were supplied to European ruling houses such as the Russian Tsar's court and wines from Chile to the Spanish royal court. In the 19th century, wines from Argentina took top places at world exhibitions and won many gold medals.

Winegrowing pioneers

However, viticulture then came to a standstill at the beginning of the 20th century and did not restart until the early 1960s. Particularly noteworthy as groundbreaking viticultural pioneers are Robert Mondavi (1913-2008) and Joe Heitz (1919-2000) in California's Napa Valley, the Gallo brothers in California's Central Valley, Max Schubert (1915-1994) in Australia and James Busby (1802-1871) in New Zealand. These men applied new viticultural techniques and provided important impetus. They drew on many years of experience in the traditional wine-growing countries of Italy, France, Spain and Germany and introduced European varieties.

Differences between the New World and Europe

There are some major differences in viticulture and winemaking between the Old and New Worlds, but it is not possible to speak of general and eternally valid practices. One thing the New World countries have in common is that they are perhaps more willing to experiment and try out new techniques. In addition, the less restrictive wine laws often allow producers more room for manoeuvre. Particularly in the countries of the southern hemisphere (where the harvest takes place between February and April), temperatures are consistently higher than in Europe, which is particularly favourable for red wines. The tannins in the wines are usually softer and riper. The climatic conditions are not subject to as many fluctuations as in Europe, which makes the differences in the vintages smaller.

Automated methods such as mechanical grape harvesting and even pruning, as well as the concept of precision viticulture, were developed in the USA. Geographical origin does not have the same significance as in Europe. The wines tend to be single-varietal and fruit-orientated. The toast flavour (wood tone) from barrique ageing is often given great importance in the New World. There is also a significant difference in the fermentation process, where temperatures are often much lower. The grape varieties are increasingly being harmonised and grafting has also become standard.

Vine belt

The geographical areas where quality viticulture is possible under optimal conditions and vines can thrive are known as the vine belt. This is where 95% of the most important areas are located. They lie from 40 to 50 degrees north and from 30 to 40 degrees south. However, there are also vineyards in between, mostly in higher areas. The criteria for the suitability of a region for viticulture are referred to as viticultural suitability.

Rebengürtel - Weltkarte mit Weinbaugebieten

Further information

See further country lists under Africa, America, Equator, Asia, Europe, European Union, Oceania, South America, Tropics and USA, as well as a table with all countries under Wine production volumes (vineyard areas and wine volumes).

Columbus: by Sebastiano del Piombo, Public domain, Link
Riebeeck: Public domain, Link
Cortez: Public domain, Link
Rebengürtel: The Winegrower 1 - Viticulture, Ulmer Verlag 2019, 4th edition

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