The New World is a historical term for the Americas discovered by the Spaniards under Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) in 1492. It was contrasted with the 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.
Viticulture
The great voyages of discovery also opened up these regions to viticulture, which was unknown there. The colonists brought European vines with them from their homeland and had a religious motivation above all, namely to produce mass wine. On the North American continent, especially on the east coast, there were many wild vines growing in the forests, but the indigenous people were not familiar with targeted cultivation or winemaking.
Due to the peculiar nature of the American vines, it was not possible to produce drinkable wine from them. The wines had an unpleasant flavour for European tastes 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)...
