Life And Style: A Taste Of Korean Wine

 Wine-making secrets have been handed down from generations of aristocrats.

The best time to taste Korean wine is Feb. Baekseju, brewed with rice harvested in late fall and fermented at a low temperature matures at the end of Jan or early Feb. The name baekseju, meaning 100-day wine, comes from the 100 days it takes for the liquor to become clear.

The wine is ready in time for Korea’s biggest holiday, Lunar New Year’s Day. Holiday get-togethers often involve some drinking, and the taste of homemade wine is often a highlight. The introduction of a liquor tax in the early 20th century forbade homebrewing, and accordingly, homemade wine disappeared for a while. However, wine brewed at home is becoming more popular.

The Seoul City Intangible Cultural Treasure Exhibition Hall (+82 2 747 0303) is hosting an exhibition about samhaeju in Feb. The hall is at the edge of Bukchon Hanok Village near Anguk Station on Subway Line 2. Two of 25 master brewers showcase their work.

The samhaeju master brewer is Gwon Hui-ja. Gwon married a descendent of a son-in-law of the king. In Korean society, the princess used to accompany her maid-servants when she married outside of royalty and lived with her in-laws. Her maid-servants often handed down royal court recipes, which is how Gwon’s family began to make samhaeju at home. Gwon inherited the recipe from her mother-in-law.

Samhaeju—the wine of Seoul

The Seoul City Intangible Cultural Treasure Exhibition Hall displays a variety of seasonal wines made with samhaeju. ‘Seasonal wine’ refers to the wines designed to be consumed on special days such as seallal.

"According to them the best way to appreciate makgeoli is to first climb a mountain."
Koreans used to drink green pepper drink on Dano (5 May in the lunar calendar), sindoju made with new crop rice on Chuseok (15 Aug in the lunar calendar) and chrysanthemum wine on Junggu (9 Sept in the lunar calendar). These seasonal wines are supposed to be drunk in special ways and carry symbolic meanings.

The seasonal wines Gwon showcases at the event include dosoju (literally ‘evil spirit-expelling wine’), guibalgi wine (literally sharp-ear wine), and chobaekju (Japanese pepper and oriental arborvitae wine). Supposed to have the power to drive away evil spirits, chobaekju is consumed with seven peppercorns and seven pine needles picked from a twig that stretches out to the east. Dosoju, which is said to prevent diseases, is a herb wine that Koreans drink on New Year’s Day after performing ancestral rites. In Korea, seniority is extremely important and observed rigidly as an important part of table manners. When it comes to dosoju, the youngest, male or female, is the first to drink and the oldest the last. Gwibalgi wine is associated with Daeboreum (15 Jan in the lunar calendar). Those who drink it early in the morning are supposed to hear good news and keep free from ear diseases.

In this respect, Koreans drink wine not just for flavour or taste but for superstitious reasons as it is believed to bring good luck and thwart diseases.

Wine-brewing event

In May, Namsangol Hanok Village hosts the ‘5,000 Years of Taste and Flavour’ festival, which includes Korean traditional winemaking and tasting. The Korean Traditional Wine Institute (+82 2 389 8611), which sponsors the event, has offered visitors the opportunity to experience Korean traditional wine-making.

Korean traditional wine brewing consists largely of two parts: rice malt making and brewing with steamed rice. Malt is an essential ingredient of Korean traditional wine. It is made with crushed wheat, which is then placed in a wooden box to be treaded. Malt treading with feet is an exciting experience for foreigners as they often say it is as unique as the taste of Korean traditional wine.

The rice is steamed in an earthenware steamer to make a batter called godubab. When the godubab is cooled, it is mixed with malt and treaded for a while to make it as glutinous as possible—the more glutinous the godubab and malt batter the better the wine is.

The Korean Traditional Wine Institute offers a three-hour wine brewing class for a group of five or more for 60,000 won (US$41) per person. Reservations are required. The fly in the ointment is that participants cannot taste the wine they make that day. They have to wait for at least a week for the wine to ferment. They can take their wine home or pick it up later.

The Bukchon Culture Centre run by Seoul City also offers a wine-making class led by Nam Seon-Hui (+82 10 4767 6411), who has been teaching that class for seven years. Located at the entrance to Bukchon Hanok Village, the center offers two classes a day from 10am to 12nn and 2pm to 4pm in the afternoon on Wednesdays and Thursdays from March. Those who do not participate in the class can watch and, if they are lucky, taste the wine that is made. The centre also offers a customised wine-making lesson for foreigners on reservation only.

Makgeoli and Insa-dong Makgeoli

The Makgeoli festival is held every year in Insa-dong under the sponsorship of the Seoul Rice Wine Manufacturing Association, a company founded by makgeoli manufacturing companies in Seoul by merging them into one. Makgeoli, meaning roughly filtered wine, is also called takju, meaning cloudy wine, because it is opaque.

Makgeoli was once the most popular alcoholic beverage in Korea— it accounted for 70% of alcohol consumption in the 1970s. With the urbanisation and Westernisation, however, its consumption has fallen to 3%-4% now and beer has taken over its place.

Makgeoli is also referred to as nongju (literally meaning farm liquor in Korean) as it is popular with farmers. It usually has an alcohol content of around 6%, which means that one bowl is enough to have an effect. Farmers drink makgeoli when they take a break because they say it helps them work without feeling tired. In a big city such as Seoul, makgeoli is no longer consumed for that purpose.

One of the places where makgeoli is sold most in Seoul is the entrance to a mountain trail. Some people climb the mountain with a bottle of makgeoli in their backpacks to drink at the summit, while others enjoy it served with tofu when they climb down. They say there is nothing like makgeoli to satiate hunger and thirst. According to them the best way to appreciate makgeoli is to first climb a mountain.

The makgeoli that has the largest market share in Korea is Jangsu makgeoli manufactured by the Seoul Rice Wine Manufacturing Association. If you are interested in learning how makgeoli is made, call the Dobong Brewery (+82 2 999 8184) of the Seoul Rice Wine Manufacturing Association. (HEO SHI-MYUNG In Seoul / The Korea Herald/ AsiaNews