By Kim Rahn
The Grand Hyatt Seoul aims to become the wine ambassador to Seoul and the mission is actively promoted by Till Martin, executive assistant manager for food and beverage (F&B).
The hotel is holding various wine events this year, including a casual gathering, Wine Club, and an exclusive gourmet dinner, Winemaker’s Table. The F&B expert from Germany says more and more Koreans seek wine and want to know about the foreign alcoholic beverage.
“Twenty years ago, there was Ballantine’s whiskey on each table, then wine followed in a dramatic fashion.
People are expressing strong interest in wine and many young people are so passionate about it. They want to learn and experience wine, spend so much on wine. A huge generational change is going on,” Martin said.
He said that’s why he presented the Wine Club and why its last two events were so successful.
The Wine Club is an event where people can enjoy a variety of wine without limits in a casual atmosphere under specific themes. The theme in March was Shiraz, and guests could enjoy some 40 kinds of wine made from Shiraz grapes from all around the world. The event will continue throughout the year, with the next one scheduled on May 12 under the theme of pinot noir.
“The idea of having the Wine Club is holding a communicative networking event for people who love wine. You can go and taste 40 wines, meet, talk and just hang out. It is an educational event but not in a direct way. You can teach and train yourself and gain knowledge by talking to other people who may have different opinions,” the 38-year-old said.
The two best wines selected at each Wine Club event are put on the hotel’s menu, allowing guests to contribute to the hotel’s wine selection.
Another of the Grand Hyatt’s wine events is the Winemaker’s Table, which is held bimonthly, where winemakers from famous wineries offer and talk about their wines to about 20 exclusive guests.
The event also helps the hotel’s goal of becoming a wine ambassador, as the invited winemakers train its staff. “This is an emotional experience for them. The guy who digs with his hands in the soil to plant the grape comes and explains this bottle, telling how he harvested this and put the label ㅡ you cannot put a price on all this experience,” Martin said.
In selecting the wine menu, he focuses on balance between high-priced wines and low-priced ones, between old world wines like French and Italian and new world wines including Chilean and Australian, and between public trends and the introduction of new brands.
“We have to have basic wines, what people like, such as Chilean and other red wines between 60,000-80,000 won, but we also have something for up to 1 million won for those with very exclusive tastes. All wine menus have to have good balance between low-priced and high-priced wines, between wines everybody like and wines some people have never heard of, to keep it interesting. We listen to the customer, but also sometimes show something different,” he said.
The F&B expert with 15 years of experience said the hotel’s restaurants focus on offering authentic hospitality ㅡ for example, the Japanese restaurant has to have authentic Japanese cuisine, equipment and tableware.
In that sense, he expressed regret that only four among dozens of top-class Korean hotels in Seoul have Korean restaurants. “It is my first hotel destination where almost no five-star hotel has a local restaurant. It is a pity because Korea should do more about this,” Martin said, adding many Korean dishes go well with wines.