New World wines are those wines produced outside the traditional winegrowing areas of Europe and the Middle East, in particular from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Japan (primarily Tokachi), Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States (primarily California). The phrase connotes a distinction between these "New World" wines and those wines produced in "Old World" countries with a long-established history of wine production, essentially in Europe and the Middle East, most notably: France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Romania, Georgia, and Switzerland.
Both the quantity and quality of New World wine production have increased greatly since about 1970.
Outside their home markets, New World wines can be said to have been very successful in exports to non-wine producing countries, above all the United Kingdom, and also to North America. But they have achieved relatively little penetration in old wine-making countries such as France and Italy.
