Last week I wrote about the stylistic differences between wines from the “old world” (Europe) and the “new world” (everywhere else). To experience this phenomenon, My Wine Tribe recently held a tasting at Barrique Wine and Imports. Barrique is a Seattle-based importer of French wines as well as a distributor of Washington state and Oregon wines, all focused on organic and biodynamic viticulture.
A
s usual, we held a blind tasting, meaning all of the wines were in paper bags so we wouldn’t be influenced by label art, prices or anything but the wine inside the bottles. We tried the wines both with and without food and rated each after tasting both ways. Before I reveal the results, I want to give a big shout out to Adrienne at Barrique, who picked a selection of rosé and white wines for us that are all affordable, yet vastly different in style.
The Lineup
Chateau de Petit Roubie 2014 “Nature de Roubie” Rosé (France): $12
Locus 2015 Rosé (Washington state): $14
Cedergreen 2015 Sauvignon Blanc (Washington state): $14
Domaine Curot 2014 Sancerre (France): $24
Aubie Mema 2012 “Albion” (France): $17
Domaine de la Terre Rouge 2014 Viognier (California): $17
Before I reveal the winners, let’s make sure you know what tribe you are in. The joy of this site is getting customized wine recommendations based on your palate preferences, so if you haven’t already done so, take our quick quiz to find your wine tribe.
Favorite Wines by Tribe
We tried to unlock the differences of old world vs. new word wines and found that some of the wines are out of this world. The winners for this tasting, by tribe, is as follows:
The Accessible Tribe preferred wine No. 1, the Chateau de Petit Roubie, a pretty pink rose from old world France. This isn’t surprising because the Accessible Tribe shies away from big flavors and appreciates subtlety. This is an old world wine, so it follows that it is definitely subtle, with tastes of apricot, unripe raspberries and earth. On its own, the Accessible Tribe found it to be a little on the acidic side, but when paired with food the wine smoothed out and got sweeter—perfect for the Accessible.
Wins for Washington Wine
The winning wine for the Balanced Tribe was No. 2, the Locus Rosé . This is a new world wine known for being well-balanced with complex fruit flavors (imagine that, the Balanced Tribe likes a balanced wine). The Balanced liked its floral yet earthy scents and its tastes of tart cherries, strawberries and steel.
The Developed Tribe and the Complex Tribe aligned on their favorite: No. 3, the new world Cedergreen Sauvignon Blanc from Washington state. Both Tribes really liked that this white wine is easily quaffed without food and yet has enough acid and heft to hold up to drinking with a meal. Tasters detected scents of pineapple and sweet tarts (yes, the candy) and tastes of ripe nectarines, vanilla and grass. This is a great go-to wine if you are in the Developed or Complex tribes.
California Provides an Experience, Of Course
What about the Domaine de la Terre Rouge Viognier? It was an experience. It’s a California wine that exemplifies what it means to be a new world wine. Bold, fruity and relatively high in alcohol (most white wines are 12 to 14 percent alcohol, but this one is 14.5 percent), it tastes of key lime pie, kiwi and honey. We decided it’s worth drinking on its own, but not with food as it would overpower your meal.
So, to review: That’s one old world winner and two new worlds, which lands us within the margin of error for tastings…meaning we need to try more. In the meantime, please drop a comment and let us know if you prefer old world or new world wines.
Cheers!