It was the Old World vs. the New World...

The Goddess of Wine led a group of curious wine enthusiasts through a comparison of Old World wines and New World wines at the Fossil Wine Bar in the picturesque town of Atascadero last night.

Old World wine refers primarily to wine made in Europe but can also include other regions of the Mediterranean basin with long histories of winemaking such as North Africa and the Near East. The phrase is often used in contrast to New World wine which refers primarily to wines from New World wine regions such as the United States, Australia, South America and South Africa. 

The terminology is used to describe general differences in viticulture and winemaking philosophies between the Old World regions where tradition and the role of terroir lead versus the New World where science and the role of the winemaker are more often emphasized. 

In recent times, the globalization of wine and advent of flying winemakers have lessened the distinction between the two terms with winemakers in one region being able to produce wines that can display the traits of the other region—i.e. an "Old World style" wine being produced in a New World wine region like California or Chile, and vice versa.

Do Old World wines taste different than New World wines? Yes, they often do. The differences in Old World and New World wines come from winemaking practices (tradition) and from the effect of the land and climate on the grapes (the “terroir”).

• Old World wines are often described as tasting lighter, having less alcohol, having higher acidity, and tasting less fruity
• New World wines are often described as tasting riper, having higher alcohol, having less acidity, and tasting fruitier

Wineaux of the Goddess - August Meeting - Rioja...

It was getting down to the wire and the Goddess of Wine had still not decided on a wine region to taste, so she thought, "Well, we haven't visited Spain in a while..." and chose Rioja. The group of tasters included First Acolyte JD (new Twitter handle @gowacolyteone), hostess-with-the-mostest Xochitl Maiman, Michelle McCue, Debra Bizek, and lovely-person-we-hadn't-seen-in-way-too-long, Amelia Yokel.

Rioja is a wine region, with Denominación de Origen Calificada (D.O.Ca. Qualified Designation of Origin) named after La Rioja, in Spain. Located south of the Cantabrian Mountains along the river Ebro, La Rioja has a continental climate enhanced by the mountains that help to isolate the region and create a moderating effect by protecting the vineyards from the intense winds that are typical of northern Spain. The region is also home to the Oja river (Rio Oja), for which the region was probably named. Most of the region is situated on a plateau, at about 1,500 feet above sea level. The area is subdivided into three regions - Rioja Alavesa, Rioja Alta and Rioja Baja. Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Alta, located closer to the mountains, are at slightly higher elevations and have a cooler climate. Rioja Baja to the southeast is drier and warmer.

Wineaux of the Goddess November - Meeting - Toro!

The Goddess of Wine and her merry band of wine aficionados met to taste the wines of Toro, Spain. As it turned out, almost all the Wineaux brought samples of the noble Spanish grape, Tempranillo, known in Toro as Tinto de Toro. And there was an interesting and unexpected lesson at this tasting.

Some background on Toro mainly from Wikipedia: Toro is a Spanish Denominación de Origen (DO) in the province of Zamora, northwest of Castile and Léon (Spain). The area covered by the DO is in the southeastern corner of Zamora province. Wine has been made in Toro since the end of the 1st century BC, when the ancient Greeks taught the local Celtic tribes. In the Early Middle Ages, the wines from Toro were the first to be traded in the region of the River Duero.

King Alfonso IX granted lands to several religious orders with the understanding that they would plant vines, and many of the existing churches in Toro today were built thanks to the wealth generated by the wine trade. The reputation of the wines from Toro grew and it was sold further afield in cities such as Seville and Palencia. At this time the wine producers built underground wineries (bodegas) in order to obtain better quality wines and to have more effective temperature control. At the end of the 19th century, wine were exported to France during the phylloxera crisis, which did not affect the local vines as they were protected by the sandy soil. The vines of other regions of Spain were replaced by vines from Toro as well. Toro still has a number of very old vineyards with pre-phylloxera Tinta de Toro, which in recent years have been used to source grapes for special cuvées.

Wining by Proxy...Castilla-La Mancha...

Yes, once again, the Goddess of Wine had to go to the earth job while First Acolyte, JD, tasted his way through a selection of excellent wines...Here is his account of the Wines from Castilla-La Mancha Grand Tasting at the Bazaar by JoséAndrés located at the SLS Hotel Beverly Hills on Thursday, June 6, 2013:

Castilla-La Mancha is the largest Spanish wine region with over 1,240,000 acres under vine divided into 9 D.O.’s (Denominaciones de Origen or Wine Appellations) plus the surrounding Castilla areas in the center of Spain. They have taken as their symbol the great literary figure of Don Quixote de la Mancha with a slogan of “Wines from Don Quixote’s Spain.” This area is mainly a vast expanse of flat, dry land with the temperature extremes of a continental climate. There is a lot of sunshine but limited water, necessitating dry farming.

This was the last stop of a three city leg of the 2013 US Tour. Many of the people flew out that evening back to Spain, some for quick turnarounds to then go to other places in the world. This is besides communicating to their companies at odd hours while on the road. These are some not quite so glamorous and quite fatiguing aspect of the wine industry. 

Wining by proxy...First Acolyte JD tastes Vibrant Rioja...

Once again, the Goddess of Wine had to stay the course at the earth job, so JD manfully took up the mantle of wine-taster-maven at the Vibrant Rioja Trade Tasting on May 7th at Fleming’s Beverly Hills. Ah...the sacrifices we make in order to bring wine education to the masses!

Some background: Vibrant Rioja is a partnership between the DOCa Rioja and Wines From Spain. As the USA marketing and public relations campaign representing all DOCa Rioja wineries available in the U.S., Vibrant Rioja focuses on trade relations and trade education as well as consumer awareness - while distinguishing the DOCa Rioja as a producer of consistently superior wines through unparalleled quality control, tremendous value, style diversity and food-friendliness.

JD's words and highlights:
Easy to find. Easy parking. Simple check-in. There were several wine stations in the front room with the rest in the back room reached through an aisle lined on one side with booths. Sampled a number of wines; not all of course. There were, as is usually the case, too many and there was difficult access to some locations once the place got busy.

For a while I was noticing certain sea-like notes in some of the wines, especially in the front room. Then I discovered that the restaurant was preparing fish dishes to accompany the tasting. Oops.

There was some food, but scurrying among the wines by the time I thought to check on it, it was gone.