Likewind is a popular Korean travel blogger. He recently took a visit to a Korean winery and you can read his original post in Korea here.
This is a slightly abridged translation.
The last stop during my Daeboo-do trip was a winery called Green Young Nong Association. The gloomy rainy weather had all but destroyed my enthusiasm during the trip but visiting a winery was still intringuing. Maybe that was because there was a chance for some wine tasting.
Grapes always remind me of the grape-picking experience I had in Australia. I spent long hours picking grapes under the blazing sun. I really can’t stand grapes.
I had no idea that wine was produced in Korea, nor that there was a winery that I could visit and taste wine. I guess this winery is a new favorite destination in Daeboo-do. I also learned that Green Young Nong Association’s wine brand “Grand Coteau” was fairly well-known. I really know little about wine. I’ve tasted some wine before, mostly the kind they serve on planes. Although I drank wine a few times in Korea, it still isn’t all that familiar to me as far as liquor goes. Drinking wine a few times sure wouldn’t make me any kind of expert, just a layperson to the world of wine.
The owner of the winery gave us a tour of the facilities himself. He seemed to be quite proud of the place, given that he’s put so much hard work into it. It was obvious that he was a big wine enthusiast.
Upon entering the aging room, we found wine bottles placed in boxes. There we listened to the winery staff give a simple explanation about the winemaking process, and we moved on to the storage room next door.
We tasted some wine in this room. It was pretty good. I don’t remember the exact name, but I think it was a rose. Some people believe that wines made of Campbell grapes aren’t great, but this wine proved otherwise. After finishing a glass each, we went onto upstairs in the main building.
A delicious lunch table greeted us upstairs: nakjibokkeum. The kalguksu I had for lunch wasn’t very filling so the nakji looked especially delicious. I salivated in anticipation. The restaurant was not actually owned by Green Young Nong Association. They actually hired a catering service from a restaurant to pair the meal with the wine.
Before even the dish was all cooked, it just looked so delicious. I started devouring the nakji along with the different kinds of wine that they handed me – whites, reds and even ice wines. I thought white wines were clear but the one I tasted had a reddish hue.
As we worked our way through the nakji lunch, the owner of the winery continued his talk on Korean wine. He’s been working really hard to make the Korean winemaking industry grow — not just his own business but other players in the market as well. He further emphasized that you don’t need to pay too much attention to all the formalities in drinking wine, and it would be a great idea to create a wine culture adapted to Korean cuisine and drinking culture. I could tell that he not only had great affection for wine but was really working hard to create a good environment for enjoying wine.
I don’t even know how much I drank at the winery. I just drank all the wine that was given out. At last, we even tasted ice wine, which costs more than other regular wines.
Although I was quite full, I couldn’t skip the nakji fried rice to finish off the great meal.
