Kabinett in Itaewon Offers Variety of Boutique Wines
By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
The downside about drinking wine in a restaurant or wine bar in Korea is the high cost. It is largely because of the nation's tax system on alcohol, which results in a high markup to double or sometimes triple retail prices.
Since the revision of the tax law is up to lawmakers, wine lovers have long since given up the tax rate battle and instead have tried to find places offering wines at a low markup.
To apparently meet such demand, a wine bar, named ``Kabinett'' has opened next to the Itaewon Hotel in Itaewon, Seoul, last month.
There is a walk-in wine cellar in the bar filled with wines from various countries, all attached with a price tag. The cellar is the most important feature of Kabinett where customers can choose three wines off the shelves of the cellar.
First, they can select a bottle of wine and drink it in the bar at the tag's price plus a 10,000 won corkage fee. This is what Kabinett is proud of as the most special feature of the bar in terms of price.
Second, they can select a bottle and take it home without paying the corkage. Third, if they order a box of 12 bottles, they will get free delivery service plus a 30 percent discount.
In addition to wines, there is a huge wheel of parmesan cheese from Italy and a variety of snacks in the cellar for wine drinkers to take to their tables in the bar.
Kabinett mainly offers boutique wines, those made by small wineries and available only at specific places. Staff stressed they chooses boutiques of good quality and reasonably priced thanks to their relationship with Pieroth, the global wine supplier.
Of course, there are popular wines like Kendall Jackson and Montes Alpha and premium wines like Chateau Latour and even Romanee Conti (16 million won). But popular and premium wines account for a very small portion of the cellar.
Alas, the prices of Kendall and Montes were almost double the retail ones. So the wine menu encourages consumption of the boutiques, which range from 33,000 won to 95,000 won.
Befitting the wine bar, Kabinett has good foods to match the wines. For example, the chicken kebab (15,000 won) went very well with the white wine we had.
Wine servers seemed to very well trained and knowledgeable. Every time they served a wine they always explained some details such as the grape variety, origin, color and smell.
Kind explanations will make wine novices feel at home. A special wine tasting dubbed, ``wine flight,'' provides a good chance for ambitious wine beginners to get familiar with wines.
At 20,000 won, imbibers can have six tasting glasses and the price is half on the first Thursday of the month. There was a rare port, and a sweet and fortified red wine from Portugal, too, among the six for the red.
The wine bar is open from 5:50 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. It closes on Sundays. For more information call (02) 790-7034.