Embassy introduces more varieties of Argentinian wine

Alfredo Bascou, the Argentinian ambassador to Korea, holds a bottle of Argentinian wine during "Wines of Argentina," a wine tasting event hosted by the embassy, at Millennium Hilton Seoul, May 4. Korea Times photo by Kwon Mee-yoo

By Kwon Mee-yoo

The Embassy of Argentina in Korea hosted an annual Argentinian wine tasting event at the Millennium Hilton Seoul on May 4 to showcase the diversity and quality of the Latin American country's wine.

Alfredo Bascou, the ambassador of Argentina to Korea, told The Korea Times during the event that this is one of the events the embassy organizes annually in regards to promoting the excellence of Argentinian wine.

"Wine is a sector growing in Korea and Argentinian wines are following that trend, growing in the last two to three years. Mainly the wines that are growing (in Korea) are the wines of high quality," Bascou said.

"Argentina has an excellent relation in its price-quality. Around 25-30 years ago in Argentina, when we made a lot of investment, we decided to go for more quality rather than quantity. And it is starting to produce a good result. When people drink Argentinian wine, they will see that for what they pay, they get very good quality.”

Titled "Wines of Argentina," this year's event centered on two varieties: Malbec and Torrontes.

"Argentina is recognized for one of its varieties ― Malbec. So when you say Malbec, then you say Argentina. Argentina is now starting to strongly promote another variety of white wine, the Torrontes. It's a genuine Argentinian variety,” the ambassador explained.

The ambassador added that the embassy plans to organize one or two more wine events this year, including a golf tournament and master classes.

Javier Rodriguez, the corporate regional manager of the Asia-Pacific at Argentinian wine company Grupo Penaflor, who flew from Singapore to attend the event, said Malbec has been Argentina's flagship wine for many years now.

"The reason why Malbec is so nice and important in Argentina is the climate. Argentina has a good altitude, very suitable for Malbec, and also the sunlight... The water we use for the wine comes from the river, which naturally comes from the melting snow of the mountain, (considering that) most of our vineyards are located in the foothills of the Andes. So I would say that the climate is what makes Malbec very special," Rodriguez said.

"Malbec is a very fruity, full-bodied wine with a good ripeness of the grape. Even though Malbec has many different characteristics, one characteristic for all of them is fruitiness. So it's very easy for people to identify Malbec,"

Six years in charge of the Korean market, Rodriguez said Korea is one of the most important markets for Argentinian wine with good buying power.

"It's our main market with a very good distribution. Korea has a huge potential with the amount of retail distribution it has."

"With the pandemic, I think, there are a lot of new people consuming wine. People decided to start with wine as they couldn't spend money on trips. The Korean market was always very important, but now even more so, because we have more consumers... (Korea is) one of those countries that the young people are getting into wines and thinking for the long term, that's very positive for the industry," he said.

Argentinian Torrontes and Malbec wines are on display at "Wines of Argentina," a wine tasting event hosted by the Embassy of Argentina to Korea, at Millennium Hilton Seoul, May 4. Korea Times photo by Kwon Mee-yoo

Some 18 Korean importers of Argentinian wine took part in the event, promoting Argentina's signature types of Malbec and Torrontes as well as more common types of wine such as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Argentinian sparkling wine.

John Kim, the CEO of Casa de Mendoza, said his company aims to introduce great Argentinian wines from lesser-known, small, boutique wineries. The name of the company comes from Mendoza, the largest wine-producing region in South America.

"I grew up in South America when I was young and visited the region frequently as I worked for overseas sales in South America later. There are so many great Argentinian wines, but only few were known and imported to Korea. So I decided to bridge it when I quit my job," Kim said.

After spending months in Argentina to discover good wineries, Casa de Mendoza now imports wine from seven of the finest wineries in the Mendoza region.

"Malbec is the best-known Argentinian wine in Korea, but when you visit Argentina, there is a wide range of different species and varieties of wine. For instance, Torrontes is a popular type of white wine in Argentina, but little-known in Korea," Kim said.

According to the embassy, about 200 people attended the event from the food and beverage and hospitality industry. Jeon Won-bae, a photographer and wine aficionado, said it was a good opportunity to taste various types of Argentinian wine.

"I knew and liked some famous Argentinian wine labels, but I was able to experience the diversity of Argentinian wine at this event. I first came to know of Argentinian wine through Malbec, but lesser-known wineries offer more varieties. I wish more Argentinian brands could be introduced to Korea to provide diversity to Korean wine lovers," Jeon said.