These terms are thrown around in the wine industry like grapes at harvest time. Everywhere. Essentially this can be viewed in two ways: The first is location. New world wines refer to those created in Australia, New Zealand and both North and South America. Old world refers to Western Europe. But this also refers to wine style as well. New world wines are often thought of as being heavier in fruit, alcohol by volume and oak, where the old guard wines are thought of as being more restrained and balanced, with lower levels of alcohol, higher levels of acidity and more earthy tones.