Earlier this month, I got back from a ten-day visit to Asia. I started in Seoul, South Korea, where I was the American judge in the 2008 Korea Wine Challenge. It was a fascinating experience as Korea’s Wine Review magazine hosts its 4th annual international wine competition.

As Jeong Eun Choi, my friend and editor of the wine review puts it, “who would have thought when we began this tasting event a few years ago that it would so quickly become as important to the Korean market as it has. ” And she’s right. I was there just for the finals and there were well in excess of 900 wines from 13 different countries (from the typical France, Italy, USA and Australia to the more obscure Lebanon, Japan, Korea and Uruguay). It was a very formidable showing.

I was also quite impressed with the increasingly discerning skills (and English) of the South Korean sommeliers with whom I had the pleasure of tasting with this time. A few familiar faces but a few new ones as well. And their breadth of experience as the leading edge of Korea’s emerging wine palate is obvious. The range of wines they are tasting is expanding rapidly and with this range, so too are their opinions and confidence.

According to the Wine Institute of California, U.S. Wine Exports to South Korea is the 12th largest U.S. wine export market, totaling 4.3 million liters ($11.3 million in value) in 2006. With the free trade agreement established between U.S. and South Korea in 2007, the eventual elimination of tariffs on U.S. wines will make U.S. wines more competitive with wines from other origins in South Korea’s growing wine market. U.S. wines are woefully under represented in this market. There were well over 100 entries from Australia (makes sense) and Chile. The French and Italian weren’t far behind. Sadly we (the U.S. producers) had only a couple of dozen wines submitted. If we are going to make waves in this dynamic market, we have to engage. It is like my daughter always says, “Dad, you can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy any tickets!”

To end this blog on a tasty note, one of my favorite things about visiting South Korea is enjoying the cuisine…succulent Korean short ribs, also known as “kalbi” paired with a delicious Syrah-based wine from McLaren Vale or the polar opposite- a Torrontés from Argentina’s Salta region. Both matches pair well for different reasons- the sweet peppery spice of Syrah echoing the sesame, soy, a sugar in the marinade, caramelizing as it hits the grill, or the sexy exotic aromatics of the Torrontés paired with the subtle heat and sweet.