nanoomi

Valentine’s day is when we woo and swoon a partner, lover, husband or wife. Wine is a lovely way to connect, talk about life and indulge. Here are our picks for a romantic evening on February 14^th.

Champagne and Sparkling:

Laurent Perrier Rosé NV

Great clarity, steely spine and cool fruit. Excellent acidity, focus and balance. Great with food or refreshing it’s own. Around 340,000 in high end wine bars and good hotels.

2002 Piper Hiedsiek Cuvee Rare

Depth, structure and good complexity from aging.  Layers that engage the brain with solid fruit and a moorish finish. Pair with medium density tofu, scallops or ki-joe-kae. 300,000 at independent retailers and some department stores.

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By Joshua Hall

My father was in Seoul for two weeks. Many people’s first experience of Korean cuisine is Korean barbecue. However my father doesn’t eat red meat which gave us perfect excuse to show him some Korean cuisine less known to foreigners.

We went to Nolboo Duck restaurant 놀부 유황 오리 in Jamsil (잠실). Reservations are essential as the duck needs some serious preparation time. It’s slowly baked in a clay pot for three hours which ensures the sweet juices and fat are expressed in the final dish.

Yuhwang-ori (유황 오리) is a duck that just melts in the mouth. It’s seriously addictive and stuffed with super healthy ingredients to boost the immune system. Inside the duck is rice, five types of grains, ginseng, dates, pine nuts, sun flowers seeds, sesame seeds, and juju berries. Read the full story

I love bourgogne (부르고뉴). It’s the most beautiful grape and the hardest to grow. It likes to live at the extremes. In New Zealand it grows at 45 degrees south in the bone-dry floor of glacial valleys in Otago. Frost and fungi threaten its thin, delicate skin. Yet, this grape for me is perfection. It struggles through snow and frost to produce something extraordinary and extremely sensual.

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Rosé is a wine designed for summer. Slightly chilled, the structured fruit and taut acidicity of rosé is refreshing and a perfect accompaniment to Korean cuisine. In May 2010 Ms. Valerie Rousselle-Riboud from Chateau Roubine visited Korea, sharing her passion for rosé wine, Asian food and the landscape of Côtes de Provence.

Chateau Roubine is located in the heart of the Var region, between the Verdon Canyon and the Mediterranean Sea. The vineyards are set on the Julian Way, a road dating back to Roman times. First mentioned in archives in the early 14th century, the château was donated to the Order of Saint Jean of Jerusalem by the Knights Templar in 1307 and is one of the oldest vineyards in France.

The Estate’s wine bottles reflects the rich history of Château Roubine: the glass bears the Templar coat of arms, featuring a dragon and a lion protected by the sun’s rays, which symbolize the historic towns of Draguignan and Lorgues.

These bottle are absolutely beautiful in my opinon. I love the coat of arms sculpted into the glass and the attention to detail on the labels and foil. The bottle at the front of this photo has a dancing figure on the label whose shape is based on a vine. Read the full story

Wine Korea’s Joshua Hall is an interesting cat. He’ll take a $50 bottle of wine to a simple Korean dive because the pairings fit.

I had the pleasure of sharing this German Riesling with him at a hole-in-the-wall pajeon joint in Yeoksam-dong last week. The wine was 34,000 won ($30) (cheap by Joshua’s standards), and the mixed jeon was 7,000 won.

The effed-up thing about this is that it worked. It actually worked. If you want to know more details about the wine and such, read all about it on Wine Korea.

Catch more pics here.