Things You'll Need:
- 2 Red Wine Glasses
- Bottle Haut-Medoc Bordeaux
- Bottle Central Coast, California Cabernet Sauvignon
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Step 1
Investigate the label. The most obvious and important distinction between Old World and New World style wines is philosophy. If you pick up a wine from a region that is considered New World (Australia, South or North America, or South Africa, for instance) the first thing you will see on the label, besides the wine maker's name, is the name of the grape. If you pick up a wine from a region of a country that makes Old World style wines, you will most likely NOT see the name of a grape. Pick up your bottle of Haute Medoc. Nowhere on the front will you see any indication of what grapes make up the wine inside. The reason the grape is not listed is because an Old World style wine is made in a country with a centuries old wine making tradition that assumes "If you are making a red wine in the Haute-Medoc, it will be made with at least 51% Cabernet Sauvignon." The winemakers of these areas have been making wines from these regions for so long, that they know what will work and what won't. There are even laws that ban the use of grapes that aren't approved. If you make a red wine in the Haute-Medoc that is not AT LEAST 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, and contains juice from a grape other than Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot or Malbec, it cannot be called a Haut-Medoc Bordeaux Vin Rouge. The laws vary slightly from country to country, but the philosophy remains the same: the importance is put on where it is from, not what grape it is made from.
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Step 2
Taste the earth. Open your bottle of Haute-Medoc. Pour it, swirl it and smell it. You may get a good deal of fruit from this wine right away, but there will, no doubt, be many other scents that accompany the fruit. These notes may even overpower the fruit. Take a sip. This will be a wine wherein the fruit may not even be the main event on the palate. It may have an earthiness to it with notes of tobacco and dark herbs. This is very indicative of an Old World style red wine. The palate will often be complex and need more time to open up. "Why would someone want a wine that doesn't taste like fruit right away?" The answer is in the philosophy of the purpose of your wine. Many advocates of Old World style wines argue that the complexity of these styles of wines lend themselves better to food. There are many more layers to Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux than a simple fruity Cabernet Sauvignon from Central Coast, California. The earthiness may remind you of mushroom, so perhaps it would pair well with a dish that showcases mushrooms. Or perhaps it has a certain amount of Cabernet Franc in the blend that gives it an herbal flair, which reminds you of rosemary. This wine would then be a great match with roast lamb with rosemary.
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Step 3
Drink them side by side. Now open up your Central Coast, California Cabernet Sauvignon. Pour it into the other glass, swirl and smell. You will immediately smell fruit and, most likely, oak. The oak is another indication of Old World versus New World style wines. While Old World winemakers use oak, it is usually French oak (sometimes Slovenian), which is much subtler than American oak and imparts less of an "oaky" flavor and smell. Now taste the California Cabernet. It will be a fruit-bomb, with lots of big, dark fruit up front and, most likely, a smoky and oaky finish. Now, taste the Haute-Medoc again. The fruit is there, but there will be myriad of other, more subversive palate notes that will present themselves more and more as the wine is continually drunk. It will evolve in the glass, as opposed to the California Cab which will stay relatively the same from minutes after it is opened until it is fully drunk.
