Sommeliers, importers and wine connoisseurs of all stripes swirled, sniffed and swished their glasses at a Malbec World Day wine tasting at a hotel in downtown Seoul on Wednesday.

The popularity of Argentine wine has been on the rise recently following the boom in wines from its neighbor Chile, which signed an FTA with South Korea in 2004.

On World Malbec Day, the embassy commemorates malbec, the South American country’s signature varietal used to make its flagship wine, said Argentine Ambassador to South Korea Jorge Roballo during the tasting. “We are launching this wine tasting event in Seoul with hopes that importers, sommeliers and quality-wine enthusiasts will become more familiar with malbec and its characteristics.”

“Argentina enjoys a reputation here as a place for premium wines, but more promotion is really needed to acquaint the Korean public,” said Andrew Kim, brand manager at wine importer Kooksoondang. The company presented Juan Benegas malbec and cabernet sauvignon at the tasting. Kim said the country organizes only one tasting of this size per year.

Connoisseurs appeared more enthusiastic about the malbec blends at the tasting than the single-vineyard bottlings. One critic from a leading wine magazine said: “Malbec tends to be very strong and the malbecs at this tasting were relatively young. That may have contributed to high acidity and high alcohol, and that may be the reason why blended malbecs can have a better balance.”

Some winemakers blend in other grapes to make a fuller and more complex wine, or to add an element they feel is missing like color or an aromatic component, explained another wine expert.

A premium blend and a favorite at the tasting was Achaval Ferrer Quimera 2011, which, at 85,000 won ($82) a bottle, is a high-end label sold at major department stores in Seoul. It is a blend of 40 percent malbec, 22 percent merlot, 20 percent cabernet sauvignon and 14 percent cabernet franc and a pinch of petit verdot.

Another favorite was Trapiche “Iscay” malbec cabernet franc, an award-winning blend of two dark red wine varietals ― malbec and cabernet franc ― an increasingly popular combination among Argentine winemakers. “Iscay” means “two” in Quechua, the language of the Incas.

Wine made from malbec is produced in many regions of Argentina. The Andean Mendoza region, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the country’s entire wine production, could be best known for the country’s most famous grape.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)