Starting in 2024, the CMS-A will no longer use the terms “Old World” and “New World” in our published educational courses and examination grids.
This decision is driven by the commitment to uphold historical accuracy, eliminate cultural bias, and acknowledge the growing challenge of distinguishing between “Old World” and “New World” wines. Our goal is to align our tasting process with the dynamic wine landscape and evolving styles. All wines selected for examinations will continue to meet the criteria outlined in the CMS-A What Makes a Wine Classic guidelines.
The Deductive Tasting Method’s initial conclusions will now emphasize a data-driven approach, incorporating theory, typicity knowledge, and cause-and-effect analysis. We understand that candidates may have established habits in their tasting process. Therefore, those opting to incorporate the Old World and New World terminology in their deduction will not incur any penalties; it will simply no longer be scored.
To assist students and candidates in adapting their deductive tasting approach, the updated tasting grids for 2024 can be found on the Resources page of the CMS-A website.