New World wine
Outside their home markets, New World wines can be said to have been very successful in exports to non-wine producing countries, above all the United Kingdom, and also to North America.
[1] The growth of mining in Potosí in present-day Bolivia, which became the largest city in the Americas in the 17th century, created a constant demand for wine which was supplied mainly from Peru.
[6] In the view that Parauguayan wine could not compete in these three markets Paraguayans abandoned winegrowing and sought instead income from tobacco and yerba mate exports.
A Victorian Syrah (also called Shiraz) competing in the 1878 Paris Exhibition was likened to Château Margaux and "its taste completed its trinity of perfection.
[15] Silvestre Ochagavia is credited with introducing the varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot noir, Cot, Merlot, Semillon and Riesling into Chile.
[6] The establishment of the Buenos Aires-Mendoza railroad in 1885 ended the lengthy and costly trade with carts that connected these two regions of Argentina and sparked development of vineyards in Mendoza.
[6] Furthermore, massive immigration to Río de La Plata mainly from Southern Europe increased demand and bought know-how to the old-fashioned Argentine wine industry.
[6] The vineyards of Mendoza totalled 1.000 ha in 1830 but grew to 45.000 in 1910, surpassing Chile which had during the 19th century had a larger areas planted with vines and a more modern industry.
This situation changed after the Pactos de Mayo were signed in 1902 and the inauguration of the Transandine Railway in 1909, making war unlikely and trade across the Andes easy.
Argentine winegrowers association, Centro Vitivinícola Nacional, dominated by European immigrants protested vigorously against the free trade agreement since Chilean wines were considered a threat to the local industry.
The complaints of Argentine wine growers in conjunction with that of cattle farmers in Chile ended up tearing down the plans for a free trade agreement.
However, in recent years there has been a reaction against some of the very oaky, alcoholic styles that typified late 1980s Australian Chardonnays for example,[citation needed] as cooler vineyards have been identified and winemakers have become more sophisticated and more restrained.
Without the partible inheritance of the Napoleonic code to worry about, New World vineyards tend to be very much bigger than those in Burgundy for example, which has allowed economies of scale and a better ability to negotiate with mass market retailers.
With supermarkets selling an increasing proportion of wine in many markets, New World producers are better positioned to take advantage of this trend towards high volumes and low margins.
Pernod-Ricard have bought Montana Wines, Diageo own Blossom Hill, and Constellation Brands have a portfolio that spans the New World, from Ravenswood and Vincor to Nobilo and Hardys.
Argentina is the world's fifth biggest wine producer[19] though it has traditionally had a high domestic consumption (in 2006, Argentines averaged over 40 litres per capita in one year).
The long history of viticulture in Argentina[20] has brought forth the evolution of many local varieties, but perhaps the most typically Argentine grape is the Torrontés, which makes an aromatic white wine.
The Mendoza Province, which is Argentina's main producer, has also gained recognition from the wine tourism business due to important investments in new wineries and hotel accommodations.
Other producing areas include San Juan, Salta, La Rioja, Catamarca, Rio Negro and the Buenos Aires wine region.
Vine cuttings from South Africa were brought on the First Fleet (1788), and though the settlers took time to adapt to the new conditions, wine exports began in 1822.
It is the seventh biggest producer of wine in the world;[22] traditionally quantity was favored over quality, and red tape discouraged improvement.
Villa de Leyva is a small region, north of Bogota, which is known for its Mediterranean climate and the wine produced in these areas is of very high international standards.
Many of the vines from Parras de la Fuente, Coahuila and other places in Mexico were the first to be exported and cultivated in what is now California, as well as other provinces in Northern New Spain and other Spanish colonies in South America.
Several factors came together at that time - Britain's entry into the European Economic Community in 1973 ended favourable terms of agricultural trade, while New Zealanders themselves developed a taste for wine as local alcohol licensing laws changed and cheap air travel exposed them to different cultures.
The end of apartheid sparked a wave of investment and innovation in the vineyards of the Cape, although there remains large areas of undistinguished grape varieties such as Colombard.
California followed a path similar to Latin American countries, with Spanish missionaries starting the first vineyard of vinifera vines in 1769, and later immigrants from Bordeaux and Italy bringing their native grapes with them.
In general Prohibition had a devastating effect on commercial winemaking in the country, which only started to recover in the late 1960s and 1970s under major industry pioneers such as Ernest and Julio Gallo, Robert Mondavi and the world-class viticultural scientists at the University of California, Davis.
The latter institution has played a leading role in the recovery of wine in the United States, in particular identifying just what vines were actually planted (notably California's signature grape, the robust red Zinfandel, which was found to be Croatia's Crljenak Kaštelanski), and encouraging the use of better clones of the traditional European varieties.
While California is known for its Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Chardonnay in particular, it produces such a massive amount of wine that just about every grape variety ends up being grown there to a greater or lesser extent.
The Northwest states of Oregon and Washington are known for their Pinot noirs and Rieslings while New York continues to produce wine mostly from Vitis labrusca varieties and hybrids.
