Is “New World” A Problematic Term?
This is a special episode in which I ask the question:
Why hasn’t the wine industry term “New World” gone the way of other problematic terms like “Oriental”?
For a while now, something about the use of the term “New World” has grated on me. As someone who lives and makes wine in one of the myriad parts of the world described by this term, I couldn’t help but notice how different are the cultures within this term and yet how homogenous is the “wine” culture.
This term began to bother me more and more. It makes most of the world of wine referential and derivative. It makes us imitators.
In truth, I think it makes us colonial subjects. Not of a political power, but of an idea: the global colonial monoculture known as “wine.”
I think it’s time we stop using the term “New World” (and “Old World” for that matter). I think it’s time we create a new world of wine.
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