Argentina promoting its wine presence in Korea

The Argentine Embassy in Seoul hosted a wine-tasting event to promote its products in the competitive Korean market.

At the Banyan Tree Spa on Nov. 9, nearly 30 wine companies opened up a booth for one day, offering wines — mostly red, which is most favored by Koreans — for prospective importers.

The Ambassador Carlos Alberto Arganaraz took a note of Korea’s and Asia’s potential as wine consumers hoping that its third show in two years would further enhance Argentina’s presence in the Korean market.

The market here has been expanding rapidly since the mid-2000s, but is getting more competitive.

European wines are showing a robust performance in Korea. So are Chilean ones with the Korea-Chile free trade agreement which came into effect in 2004. Argentinean wine maintains a smaller presence with its export amount at $2,155 last year, according to the Argentine embassy in Seoul.

However, worldwide, Argentina is better known than Chile for wine production and consumption. It is the world’s fifth largest wine producer and the seventh largest consumer.

Nearly 1,300 wineries are stretched along the Andes mountain ranges which have a big temperature gap between morning and evening and between the seasons contributing to the unique taste of grape. More than $800 million worth of wine was exported last year.

Argentina’s wine-making history began with the Spaniards, who first brought vitis vinifera, a species of grape from the Mediterranean region.