Hey friends and fellow wine lovers, I'm Marc Supsic, wine and spirits professional
and today I'm here on behalf of Wines 'til Sold Out.
If you're not familiar with Wines til sold out, they're an online wine store - but what makes them unique,
is that they work very closely with winemakers from around the world
to offer carefully curated, high-quality bottles of wine at flash sale prices!
Now, if you want to purchase any of the wines that you see here, stick around to the end of my video
for a special discount code, specifically for Wine Living friends and fans.
Today we're going to talk about old world and new world wines!
We're gonna check out wines from two classic wine countries: Italy and France,
and we'll compare them to similar wines made here in America.
As far as winemaking is concerned, Europe is the old world - and America is definitely the new world.
Even though we've made wine here for hundreds of years,
relatively speaking that's pretty young, compared to thousands of
years in Europe.
Some of you may already know that Tuscany is best known for Chianti wine
which is light and fruity. These two wines belong to a category of Italian wines
known as Super Tuscans.
And California probably has the longest and most successful history of winemaking in all 50 states.
These two examples here are from the famous Napa Valley.
The first one is Cabernet-based and the second one is a blend,
just like our two Super Tuscans!
All right so let's get to the best part - the tasting.
Wooo that is delicious! Well those are two beautiful examples of Italian wines,
one made from Cabernet Sauvignon the other one is a blend. They're getting older:
There is a 2013 here and there's a 2014 and they're starting to get flavors like
leather and tobacco - and some baking spices in there. Overall, the key thing
about Italian wines that you want to take away, is that they're usually higher
in acid, which makes them good partners for food - which is what Italian wine is all about!
OK, so right off the bat the differences here are very stark, compared
to the Super Tuscans, these California wines are a lot more bold and vibrant
and they're full of fresh fruit flavors things like strawberry and raspberry and Blackberry.
And the one thing that really stands out to me about the California
wines in particular, is oak. California is well known for its oak!
If we are talking about old-world wine regions, we have to talk about France.
In the region of Burgundy, France, Cistercian monks were the ones who discovered that Pinot Noir
makes some of the best red wines out there. They've been cultivating it for
thousands of years now. And while California may stake a claims to things like
Cabernet and Merlot, when it comes to Pinot Noir, the cooler climates of Oregon are the best,
If you look at a world atlas it probably will come as no surprise,
that Oregon happens to be close to the same latitude as Burgundy, France.
OK. now for the tough part of my job, I've got to taste these.
Generally speaking, Pinot Noir tends to be a lot lighter and a little bit more fruity than most red wines.
That's the case here for both of these examples but there are some
differences. The one from France, from the old world, is a lot more subtle and
herbaceous - it's got some character of tarragon or thyme in it.
Whereas the one from Oregon is just a big old fistful of raspberries. It almost tastes
like a raspberry pie or a raspberry cobbler!
Old-world wine and new world wine: So, what's the take away? My opinion is that
old world wines tend to be a little bit more subtle and nuanced, they tend to have higher acidity
which makes them really good with food... and American wines tend to be a little bit more
bold and powerful, heavier on the oak. This is typical for culture who like to just
drink wine by itself and not necessarily pair it with food.
when it comes to understanding the different wine regions of the world
it's not really a case of which place is better; it's more about celebrating the differences!
As promised I have fantastic offer here for you, if you want to purchase these
or any of the wines offered at Wines til Sold Out. When you go to checkout,
plug in the code MARC and you'll get $10 off any purchase of $50 or more.
If you like what I'm doing here and you would like to share some thoughts or comments with me,
you can always drop them in the comments section below.
I read everything, I will get back to you!
On behalf of Wines til Sold Out, I'm Marc Supsic. Thanks so much for joining me,
take care of yourselves and don't forget to drink something delicious today.
Cheers, Santé and tchin tchin!