A taste of Korean wine

This is the 14th in a series of articles highlighting tourism spots in Seoul. The useful guide for planning weekend trips in the capital city will help readers rediscover Seoul. - Ed.





The best time to taste Korean wine is February. Baekseju, brewed with rice harvested in late fall and fermented at a low temperature matures at the end of January or early February. 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.



Samhaeju - the wine of Seoul

The Seoul City Intangible Cultural Treasure Exhibition Hall (02-747-0303) is hosting an exhibition about samhaeju in February. 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 maidservants when she married outside of royalty and lived with her in-laws. Her maidservants 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.

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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.

Koreans used to drink green pepper drink on Dano (May 5 in the lunar calendar), sindoju made with new crop rice on Chuseok (Aug. 15 in the lunar calendar) and chrysanthemum wine on Junggu (Sep. 9 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 (Jan. 15 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 flavor or taste but for superstitious reasons as it is believed to bring good luck and thwart diseases.

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Winebrewing Event

In May, Namsangol Hanok Village hosts the "5,000 Years of Taste and Flavor" festival, which includes Korean traditional winemaking and tasting. The Korean Traditional Wine Institute (02-389-8611), which sponsors the event, has offered visitors the opportunity to experience Korean traditional winemaking.

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 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 Center run by Seoul City also offers a winemaking class led by Nam Seon-Hui (010-4767-6411), 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 10-12 in the morning and 2-4 in the afternoon on Wednesday and Thursday from March. Those who do not participate in the class can watch and, if they are lucky, taste the wine that is made. The center also offers a customized winemaking lesson for foreigners on reservation only.



Makgeoli and Insa-dong Makgeoli Festival

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 percent of alcohol consumption in the 1970s. With the urbanization and Westernization, however, its consumption has fallen to 3-4 percent 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 percent, 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 (02-999-8184) of the Seoul Rice Wine Manufacturing Association. It does not run a program for visitors yet, but it is planned to start one soon.

By Heo Shi-myung



[Notable Korean wine]

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Songjeolju

　

　A notable characteristic of Korean traditional wines is that they use herbs as a main ingredient. One of those herb wines is songjeolju (literally meaning "pine knot liquor"). Songjeolju is made with nonglutinous rice, glutinous rice, pine knots and Korean angelica but some seasonal ingredients are added as well, such as azalea in spring and chrysanthemum, pine leaves and malt in fall. Among them, pine knots - the joints in the branches of a pine twig - are the most important ingredient, hence the name "songjeolju." Lee Seong-Ja, who is a recognized "skill holder" of songjeolju brewing, makes hanju in Okcheon, Chungcheongbuk-do. The major difference between songjeolju and hanju is that the former is fermented and the latter distilled. As songjeolju is no longer brewed commercially, hanju is the best replacement for it.

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Hyangonju

　

　The royal palaces in Seoul in the Joseon period were always equipped with a variety of wines for different purposes. There was wine for the king, wine presented to subjects by the king, wine for rituals and wine for foreign envoys, amongst others. The tradition of royal court liquor disappeared with the fall of the Joseon Dynasty, but some recipes of the royal wines still survive. One of them is hyangonju, or "fragrant liquor," which is designated as Seoul City Intangible Cultural Asset No. 9.

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Baesangmyun Brewery`s Sansawon Gallery in Yangjae-dong

　

Baesangmyun Brewery is a leading liquor maker that strives to modernize Korean traditional wine. Famous for its herb wine Sansachun made with hawthorn fruit and Japanese cornelian cherries, Baesangmyun Brewery runs the gallery called "Sansawon" (02-574-3281) in Yangjae-dong, Seojo-gu, Seoul. The gallery offers an opportunity to taste a variety of wines made by Baesangmyun Brewery, including seasonal wines, as well as a wine brewing class.