New world wine (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

New world wine

Whatever happened to all the wine snobs? Five years ago, you couldn't sing the praises of a fine claret or chardonnay without risking accusations of rank snobbery. Now it's all changed.

Popular culture can't get enough of wine. Chavs call their babies Chardonnay, shiraz is the drink of choice for celebrities, and the Richard And Judy television show even has its own a wine section.

But there is still one area of wine tasting where, in some quarters, snobbery continues to reign. And that's over the issue of new world-versus-old world wines.

Given the choice of a middle-ranking old world wine or a mid-range number from South Africa, California or the antipodes, too many people still automatically opt for the former. And that's because a degree of prejudice still prevails.

While old world wines are perceived as bestowing on the drinker an aura of sophistication, taste and class, new world wines are all too often regarded as being somehow inferior, common and distinctly nouveau riche.

As any serious, open-minded viniculturist or drinker knows, such generalisations are hopelessly wide of the mark. There are rotten old world wines just as there are rotten new world wines.

But if you suffer from the affliction of new-versus-old snobbery (and I'm a reformed patient myself), then my message to you this spring is to overcome your malady and give the new world a try. There are many good wines outside France and Spain with which you can usher in the warmer days of spring and summer.

With spring upon us, lamb is likely to be cropping up on more and more menus. And if you're looking for a pleasant pinot noir with which to wash down your spring lamb, then New Zealand is worth a look.

A classic pinot noir is traditionally associated with Burgundy, particularly the Cote d'Or. But in Marlborough on the south island of New Zealand, enticing alternatives are to be found.

The Stoneleigh 2004 pinot noir (Waitrose, £7.99) looks worryingly pale in the glass, but on the nose it's all delicious berries with a hint of spice. On the palate it has a long, fruity taste alongside some spicy notes. From the same island - and with the same flavour of berries - is Wither Hills 2003 pinot noir (Waitrose, £15). Both are worth a place on any family's Easter lunch table.

With the departure of the winter gloom and the lengthening days, many drinkers' attention will turn to white wines. And for a fiesty, fiery white that's bound to fill you with the joys of spring, I recommend a wine from Western Australia.

The Capel Vale 2005 Mountain Duck chenin blanc chardonnay (Thresher/Wine Rack, £7.99) will be one of the strongest whites you'll ever sample - but it has other virtues. Its sweet bouquet has a hint of elderflower, and it is fresh and punchy on the palate. It's just the thing to banish for once and for all any lingering winter cobwebs.

Another perky white ideal for spring is the 2005 Rex Goliath chardonnay (Thresher/Wine Rack, £7.99), all the way from Monterey, California. If you can bring yourself to look beyond the horribly garish post-modern label, its worth a drop or two.

So, go on - do away with the last hints of wine snob-itus that you're suffering from, and raise a glass to the new world this spring.