Argentina

Argentina is the worlds fifth biggest wine producers though it has traditionally had a high domestic consumption (in 2006, Argentines averaged over 40 litres per capita in one year). It has a long tradition of winemaking under the Spanish, going back to 1557, but the industry has been influenced by more recent immigrants, notably Italians and also Germans. Exports increased during the mid-1990s following the success of their neighbours in Chile, and accelerated after the economic crisis of 2002.

The long history of viticulture in Argentina has brought forth the evolution of many local varieties, but perhaps the most typically Argentine grape is the Torrontés, which makes an aromatic white wine. However, Argentines love red wine to go with their famous steaks. Malbec has proven to be the most successful variety in export markets, with Barbera and "Bonarda" (now known to be Corbeau, a minor variety from Savoie) being blended into more affordable wines.

The Mendoza Province, which is Argentina's main producer, has also gained recognition from the wine tourism business due to important investments in new wineries and hotel accommodations. Other producing areas include San Juan, Salta, La Rioja, Catamarca, Rio Negro and the Buenos Aires wine region.

Australia

Vine cuttings from South Africa were brought on the First Fleet (1788), and though the settlers took a while to get to grips with the new conditions, wine exports began in 1822. As mentioned above, by the 1880s Australian wines were winning prizes in Europe, but then phylloxera struck and the industry subsided into producing fortified wines for the domestic market. Grange and others led the revival of interest in table wines, which culminated in 2000, when Australia sold more wine to the United Kingdom than did France.

While early Australian wines, their Chardonnays in particular, were criticised for being over-oaked and over-ripe, Australian winemaking is now some of the most sophisticated in the world, with vineyards increasingly planted in cooler climates, such as Pinot Noir in Tasmania, and unoaked wines becoming popular. Several regional specialities have emerged, notably Shiraz in the Barossa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon in Coonawarra, Riesling in the Eden Valley and Clare Valley, and Hunter Valley Sémillon. Rutherglen Muscats are perhaps the finest fortified wines of the New World.

Canada

Canada followed a similar path to the eastern United States - early attempts to grow Vitis vinifera failed, leading to a significant export industry based on Vitis labrusca and Vitis riparia, fortified to disguise the 'foxy' aromas. The country had its own version of Prohibition until 1927, and after it ended red tape inhibited the industry until 1974. In the following years improved viticulture and grape varieties allowed a substantial expansion of the industry in the 1990s, centred around the parts of Southern Ontario warmed by the Great Lakes, and in the Okanagan Valley of southern British Columbia. While there has been some progress with red wines from the Bordeaux varieties and Pinot Noir, Canada's most successful wines are ice wines made from grapes such as Riesling, Vidal, and even Cabernet Franc.

Chile

As in Argentina, Chilean viticulture dates back to the Conquistadores. The Bordeaux varieties arrived in the mid-1800s, although for a long time many of the vines thought to be Merlot were in fact Carmenère, and the latter has become something of a signature grape. It is the tenth biggest producer of wine in the world; traditionally quantity was favoured over quality, and red tape discouraged improvement. Under the Pinochet reforms of the 1980s, investments were made in wineries and vineyards, and exports began in earnest in the mid-1990s^. Traditionally Chilean vineyards were in semi-arid areas irrigated by water from the Andes, but there has been increasing interest in cooler areas such as the Lleyda Valley (becoming known for its Pinot Noir) and the Bío-Bío Valley, which suits Riesling and Gewurztraminer.

Chile is notable for being one of the few vine-growing regions to be free of phylloxera.

Mexico

Mexico is the oldest wine-making region in the Americas.

In 1549, Spanish explorers and settlers came across a fertile valley in the present-day state of Coahuila where they encountered native vines and founded the Mission of Santa María de las Parras or "Holy Mary of the Vines". In 1597, the Hacienda de San Lorenzo was established by the Spanish settler Don Lorenzo García, where he founded, along with other Spanish missionaries, Casa Madero - the oldest winery house in the Americas.

Many of the vines from Parras de la Fuente, Coahuila and other places in Mexico were the first to be exported and cultivated in what is now California, as well as other provinces in Northern New Spain and other Spanish colonies in South America. In 1699, the King of Spain- alarmed by competition from the New World- prohibited wine production in New Spain, with the exception of wines for the church. The prohibition lasted until the Mexico's independence from Spain in 1810.

Several Mexican wines which have achieved important international recognitions and received medals for their outstanding quality, such as Santo Tomás, Monte Xanic, L.A. Cetto, Chateau Camou and Vinos Casa de Piedra. In 2008, Mexican Wines won top places in the "Decanter World Wine Awards", the "San Francisco International", "Mundus Vini Deutschland Neustadt", and the "International Wine and Spirit Competition".

New Zealand

New Zealand viticulture was started in a small way by Croatian immigrants at the end of the 19th century, but it was not until the 1970s that it really got going. Several factors came together at that time - Britain's entry into the European Economic Community in 1973 ended favourable terms of agricultural trade, whilst New Zealanders themselves developed a taste for wine as local drinking laws changed and cheap air travel exposed them to different cultures.

Various grapes were tried in the early years, but it was in the 1980s that New Zealand developed the pungent style of Sauvignon Blanc that became her trademark. Since then the Burgundy grapes of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir have been developed in cooler, more southerly vineyards, with considerable success. More recently there has been a fad for the 'aromatic' white varieties such as Gewurztraminer and Riesling, with even Auslese styles being attempted.

South Africa

Wine was first produced in South Africa by the founder of Cape Town in 1659, and by the late eighteenth century Constantia, made from Muscat de Frontignan (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains), was popular among European royalty. However the vineyards were decimated by phylloxera and the KWV cooperative that ran most of the industry under apartheid gave little encouragement to produce quality wine. The end of apartheid sparked a wave of investment and innovation in the vineyards of the Cape, although there remains large areas of undistinguished grape varieties such as Colombard. Stellenbosch and Paarl can produce world-class wines from the Bordeaux varieties, Shiraz and also from Pinotage, a variety bred locally from Pinot Noir and Cinsaut. South Africa is also the second home of Chenin Blanc, known as Steen; Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains is known locally as red and white Muscadel, and is once again being used to make Constantia.

United States

Although wine is made throughout the United States, 90% of it comes from California. Most of the rest is split between Washington state and New York state, followed by Oregon. California's earliest grape vines were imported from New Spain, or Mexico, which in turn were brought by Spanish explorers and settlers. North America has several native species of Vitis, from which wine has been made for a long time in the east of the country, although the 'foxy' aromas of wines produced from these species are not to everyone's taste. The Catawba variety led the way for winemaking from native species, first in Ohio and later in the Finger Lakes area of New York state. California followed a similar path to Latin American countries, with Spanish missionaries starting the first vineyard of vinifera vines in 1769, and later immigrants from Bordeaux and Italy bringing their native grapes with them. Soon a thriving industry developed, particularly in the Napa Valley, which was stopped in its tracks by phylloxera and, uniquely, Prohibition (1920-1933).

One interesting consequence of Prohibition was that vineyards were replanted with lower quality grapes such as Alicante Bouschet that could survive transportation to home winemakers, and this tradition of home winemaking changed taste preferences from a dry style before Prohibition to a much sweeter style. In general Prohibition had a devastating effect on commercial winemaking in the country, which only started to recover in the late 1960s and 1970s under pioneers such as Robert Mondavi and the world-class viticultural scientists at the University of California, Davis. The latter institution has played a leading role in the recovery of wine in the United States, in particular identifying just what vines were actually planted (notably California's signature grape, the robust red Zinfandel, which was found to be Croatia's Crljenak Kaštelanski), and encouraging the use of better clones of the traditional European varieties. In the 1970s, geographical appellations were designated as American Viticultural Areas.

In the years after Prohibition, the domestic market demanded cheap 'jug wines' and sweet fortified wines. These tastes led to local styles such as White Zinfandel (a sweet rosé) and "bum wines". Interest in traditional European varieties increased after Mondavi reinvented Sauvignon Blanc in a dry, heavily oaked style called Fumé Blanc, leading to the innovations that triumphed so spectacularly in Paris in 1976. While California is known for its Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Chardonnay in particular, it produces such a massive amount of wine that just about every grape variety ends up being grown there to a greater or lesser extent. For instance, the "Rhone Rangers" have raised awareness of the Rhone varieties, notably Viognier, and there has been speculation that climate change will force California to look further south in Europe for grape varieties. The Northwest states of Oregon and Washington are known for their Pinot Noirs, while New York state continues to produce wine mostly from Vitis labrusca varieties and hybrids.