The New World Grape Varieties

The expression "New World Wines" has come to be a useful term to conveniently group all those wines which come from the southern hemisphere, as well as those from North America. The USA and Argentina are both high volume producers, with California producing 95% of the US total. Generally, new world grape varieties are actually the international varieties in a broad sense:

Australia

The potential for wine making in Australia was recognized by the first Governor of New South Wales in 1788. From the first small plantings, vineyards have now spread to every state, including the Northern Territory. This expansion and the rapidly growing reputation of the wines is the product of high levels of investment in the newest technology. Most international varieties are found; those most widely planted, in descending order of tonnage are: Chardonnay, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Semillon, Colombard and Merlot.

New Zealand

The altogether cooler climate of New Zealand is much better suited to the growing of white rather than black grapes, and the damp maritime climate can cause severe problems, particularly with fungal diseases. It is for this reason that most vineyards lie in the east of the country where they are protected from the rain by the central spine of mountains. The first plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay came into production in 1970, and then only on an experimental basis. Since then, there has been a revolution, particularly in white wines, with Sauvignon Blanc becoming increasingly a critical success. The current top vines are: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Müller-Thurgau. Riesling is also becoming increasingly popular.

North America

You can be sure that somewhere in California there will be someone growing almost any wine-grape that you have ever heard of. For cheaper blends, French Colombard, Chenin Blanc, Carignan and Barbera are the major constituents. Zinfandel (whose origins is in Primitivo), California's "own grape" is also widely planted for blends, for varietal wines and for the faintly pink or "blush", white Zinfandel. It is now the top-selling single varietal in the US. For premium wines, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are the most common, but Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc (also known locally as Fume Blanc) are also widely grown.

The vineyards of the Pacific North-West (Oregon, Washington and Idaho) are split into two distinct regions: an oceanic climate (where Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Riesling grow best) and a continental area (where Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Semillon have been successful). New York State, the remaining large wine producing area, has a number of different wine-grape plantings: hybrids of "native" varieties such as Catawba, Concord, Niagara and Noah, and other, mainly French, hybrids, such as Seyval Blanc, Baco Noir and Maréchal Foch. Finally, there are many vineyards of Chardonnay and Riesling.

South America

As far as exports are concerned, Chile is a four-varietal country, with sales dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. However, the purity of these varietals has been questioned: for example, the "Merlot" turns out to be the widely grown Medoc grape, "Carmenere".

The largest producer of wine in South America, Argentina, has a wide variety of grape plantings which reflect the diversity of its population. There's Malbec (also called Malbeck) from Bordeaux, Bonarda from Piedmont, Tempranillo from Spain, Barbera and Lambrusco from Italy and Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah (known locally as Balsamina) from France. White wines are taken much less seriously, the main plantings being Pedro Ximénez, Chenin Blanc, Semillon and Galician Torrontes.

The remaining South American wine producing countries have plantings as follows: Brazil (Chardonnay, Rhine Riesling, Semillon, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Barbera and Bonarda), Uruguay (Tannat), Peru (Malbec, Barbera, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc) and Bolivia (Moscatel).

South Africa

Overall, the South African climate is favorable to vine growing, though irrigation is frequently necessary. Recently there has been a move by some grape growers to move to the cool-climate zones close to the sea, south east of Cape Town. The most widely planted quality black grape variety is Cabernet Sauvignon. Cinsaut (here spelt without an "l") is also important and this has been crossed with Pinot Noir to create the indigenous Pinotage. For the whites, Chenin Blanc is dominant and, as in the Loire, this can be used to make either sweet or dry wines. Chardonnay is a comparative latecomer but is now widely planted, as are Sauvignon Blanc and Rhien (or Weisser) Riesling. Hanepoot is the local name for Muscat of Alexandria, which is the most widely grown variety for dessert wines.

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