Spanish Wine to be popular in Korean Market

The spotlight was on Spain at the International Wine Challenge Medal Winner Trade Tasting in Seoul, the first such tasting to be held in South Korea.

"In the future, Spanish wine may play a huge role in our country," Kim Hyuck, trade tasting co-host and director of wine cultural center Podo Plaza, said during his presentation at the event Wednesday.
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Kim listed statistics pointing to an increased number of bottles of Spanish vintages in the Korean wine market from 2009 to 2010.

"Spanish wine uses French technology, boasts good terroir and relatively low prices, so it is going to do well," the 48-year-old wine expert explained.
 
Wine and cognac import and wholesale company T&E Terroir Inc. president Jeong Hwan-ho agreed.

"Why will Spanish wines proliferate?" Jeong asked before answering the question. "The quality of Spanish wine is very good."

"We need low-priced, quality wine, so many will go for Spanish wine," he concluded.

Indeed, according to co-host Kim, the crunch of the global economic crisis has far from killed the domestic wine market. Instead, it seems to have led to a shift toward value wine.
 
"Value wine is not expensive," he elaborated. "It is an old vintage. It is wine that goes well with food and is ready to drink."

Based on Jeong's and Kim's assessments, Spanish wine fits the bill.

The International Wine Challenge Medal Winner Trade Tasting in Seoul was one of four tastings held throughout Asia. Other trade tastings took place in Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong.

The International Wine Challenge is one of the most prominent competitions in the world. Based in London, the competition has been held for 27 years, where over 10,000 entries are blind tasted by a slew of famed judges from all over the world, including around 40 Masters of Wine an exclusive group of experts who have passed the prestigious examination.

After several weeks of multi-tiered tasting, winning wines are awarded medals from the most coveted Trophy down to the Commended medals.