New World wines are those wines produced outside the traditional winegrowing areas of Europe and the Middle East, in particular from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States (primarily California). The phrase connotes a distinction between these "New World" wines and those wines produced in "Old World" countries with a long-established history of wine production, essentially in Europe, most notably: France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal. History Early wines in the Americas Alcoholic beverages were made by indigenous peoples of the Americas before the Age of Discovery. Indigenous peoples are known to have used maize, potatoes, quinoa, pepper tree fruits and strawberries to make alcoholic beverages. Despite the existence of species of the genus Vitis (to which Vitis vinifera belongs) in Venezuela, Colombia, Central America and Mexico, indigenous peoples did not ferment these species and therefore did not make wine. Spanish settlers in the Americas initially brought Old World animals and plants to the Americas for self-consumption in their attempt to reproduce the diet they had in Spain and Europe. A further stimulus for the production of New World wine in Spanish America might have been that European wines exported to the Americas were in general not transported in bottles nor sealed with cork which made them prone to be sour. Attempts to grow vines in the Americas began in Hispaniola during the second voyage of Columbus in 1494. Ferdinand II of Aragon, King of Spain, banned the planting of vines in Hispaniola in 1503. After the establishment of vines in Hispaniola in early 16th century vineyards were successfully established in Mexico in 1524. Hernán Cortés, conqueror of Mexico, promoted the establishment of vines and made it in 1524 a requirement for Spanish settlers that wanted to acquire land in the Mexican Plateau to establish vineyards in their lands. The growing of vines in Peru is known to have been ventured by Bartolomé de Terrazas and Francisco de Carabantes in the 1540s. The latter established vineyards in Ica from where vines then were taken into Chile and Argentina. The most common of the early grapes was a black grape called Mission (Spanish: Misión) which was planted in Mexico and subsequently also in Texas, and later in California. Grapes of the same stock were planted in Peru where it received the name Negra peruana (Peruvian black) and from this came the most common Chilean grape: