Wine lovers gather to taste exciting wines

By Kariem Hamed

Eight wine importers and distributors offered a sample of 30 different specially selected wines at an event held to kick off a new Wine Club meeting monthly at the Grand Hyatt in Seoul.

Guests toured the several wine tables in a room overlooking the Han River and the southern Seoul Skyline while nibbling on an appetizing buffet of finger food provided by the hotel.

The setup was casual, with a variety of wines presented in an informal atmosphere without the snobbishness usually associated with these types of tastings.

The entrance fee of 75,000 won per person (65,000 won for Dine@Hyatt members) may seem hefty, but if you do the math this is actually the best deal you can get for a few hours of wine tasting and food, anywhere in Korea. As a result, this initial event was a complete sellout and an undeniable success.

This indicates that interest in wine is once again growing, just like the way the Korean traditional drink of “makgeolli” is experiencing a renaissance. Young professional career men and women alike want to gain more knowledge and try more wines, as evinced by the crowds of people sipping wine at the event.

Representatives at each table explained in detail about the characteristics of the wines, the grapes used and the climate conditions of the vintage.

The mixed crowd of Korean and expat wine lovers had a chance to sample wines from boutique importers such as Terroir Selection, who served an impressive Jurançon Sec 2008 from Domaine Nigri (around 50,000 won per bottle), and Tiwi Trade Korea offered very nice wines from New Zealand including a soft Pinot Noir 2008 from Wooing Tree (75, 000 won per bottle) that excited many. It is no surprise that the audience voted these wines as the best white and red wine, respectively, of the evening.

Although it is labeled a “Club” there is no membership as people are expected to sign up for events to their liking and flexibly without feeling any pressure to attend because of a membership fee.

Gavin Adda, director at Samsung and resident in Korea for nearly 4 years applauds this initiative. “I admit it was quite a challenge to get to the Grand Hyatt from Gangnam, so hopefully the next event will start at 7 p.m. instead of 6 p.m.”

Besides tasting the audience also had the option to purchase wines of their likings.

“Mate, the best thing is you know what you are buying after you tasted it. I bought a mixed case of New Zealand wines because they tasted great, and now I don’t need to look for them in the stores,” said Troy Barnes a native of Australia who is the regional director at ING Life.

The hotel has outlined other tasting events for the year such as “Pinot Noir at its Best” and the “Big Reds.” The next event called “Shiraz around the World” will take place on March 3.

For more information about the Wine Club, call (02) 799-8403 and visit www.terrroir-selection.com or www.tiwitrade.com to find out more about the winning wines.