Wine producing countries will no longer be referred to as Old World or New World in materials from the Court of Master Sommeliers, the body announced in its December newsletter. It’s been a hot potato in wine circles for some time, and now one key organisation has taken a stand to remove the terms ‘Old World’ and ‘New World’ from its literature. The US arm of the Court of Master Sommeliers announced in its December newsletter that it would no longer use the terms, a decision driven by its “commitment to uphold historical accuracy, eliminate cultural bias, and acknowledge the growing challenge of distinguishing between ‘Old World’ and ‘New World’ wines.” Referencing “evolving styles” in a “dynamic wine landscape” the organisation revealed it will no longer feature Old World/New World terminology in its published materials or examination assessments. The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) has also done away with the terms, as of summer 2022. To db’s knowledge, the Institute for Masters of Wine (IMW) has not taken an official stance. What’s in a name? Old World has traditionally been used to describe European winemaking countries, while New World has been used to refer to Southern Hemisphere nations such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Chile and the US. However, this belies the ancient winemaking roots of many of these latter countries. Can we in good faith call China a New World wine country just because Chinese wine exports to Western countries are relatively new, when China has
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Fine Wine
