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DanseurVertical
Joined: 24 Nov 2010
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 Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 8:19 am Post subject: Red wine recommendations? |
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When I lived in Korea in the past I'd sometimes (once every couple months or so) buy a bottle of imported red wine. And I'd pay for quality, meaning a decent bottle was at least 16,000 won at discounted price.
But that's still mad expensive when I'm used to local wines where I lived in the US being quite good yet quite cheap.
This year I've lived near a Homeplus, so I've tried a couple of the Tesco "selected" reds. They're not awful, but for the price (10,000 won), they are boring.
Is there any place in Seoul that retails decent wine for prices that aren't ridiculously high? |
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Deja
Joined: 18 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 2:45 pm Post subject: |
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Depends on what you mean by decent, and that is not something people agree on, when it comes to wine.
I wouldn't cosnider a KRW20.000 red wine decent, but just acceptable 
E-Mart near my place always has a very decent stock and choice of good red wines, from 10-15.000 Dulongs to some more expensive ones in the 70.000 range. Also, at the Express Bus Terminal station, there is an awesome and big winery, with lots of choices.
Neither of those are discount stores, but I am sure you can find something in the <20.000 KRW range that is quite decent.
You can bargain at the shop, near the terminal, but I think at e-Mart you can also haggle about wine, unlike most other things. |
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le-paul
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Location: dans la chambre
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| Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 4:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Deja wrote: |
Depends on what you mean by decent, and that is not something people agree on, when it comes to wine.
I wouldn't cosnider a KRW20.000 red wine decent, but just acceptable
E-Mart near my place always has a very decent stock and choice of good red wines, from 10-15.000 Dulongs to some more expensive ones in the 70.000 range. Also, at the Express Bus Terminal station, there is an awesome and big winery, with lots of choices.
Neither of those are discount stores, but I am sure you can find something in the <20.000 KRW range that is quite decent.
You can bargain at the shop, near the terminal, but I think at e-Mart you can also haggle about wine, unlike most other things. |
im sorry, but you are the problem with the world if you believe what you just wrote. You also just confirmed what researchers tell retailers; that if you put a product on a higher shelf and increase the price, men will pay more. Its a trick thats as old as Noahs beard.
OP if you want a decent wine, go to homeplus. They have buyers who choose the wines, so by and large, they should be a reasonable quality. I find the trick to getting a good wine, is to buy from a country that has a lower GDP. For example you'll pay 60,000 for an american wine when the Argentinian equivalent is 15,000.
They'll also have a buyers choice or tescos/ homeplus own brand. Again, because the label doesn't look pretty like what deja likes, its about 80% cheaper.
Price has nothing to do with quality. You're living in korea for fecks sake where everything is overpriced because its a novelty!
Good wine is down to the weather, soil, treatment etc. That why you have dates and regions on wine labels so you can know that... ffs |
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le-paul
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Location: dans la chambre
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| Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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| oh, one more thing, whatever you do -dont buy the concord grape. It tastes like the wine that adjoshi drinks in the park every morning. |
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AfroBurrito
Joined: 19 Dec 2013
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| Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 5:44 pm Post subject: |
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OP, I'm not sure what types of red you prefer, but I've actually found a few decent Chilean Cabernets at HomePlus and E-Mart. I found one at Lotte Mart called 35 Degrees South and it was very nice. The E-Mart at Yongsan Station once had a not too overpriced bottle of Avalon Cabernet (a California cab). I probably paid about 20,000W for the bottle, but it was worth it to me. I went back hoping to find another but it was gone. Terra Andina is also not bad. I also once bought a bottle of a nice Pinot Noir on clearance for 7,000 Won at Homeplus. I think it was a French wine called Wingding, or something like that.
There's halfway decent wine to be had if you look for it. Outside of Seoul, I don't think there are many Koreans who fancy a good glass of wine as much as they do a shot of soju. Also, it will be nice when Korean restaurants understand that not all wines need to be refrigerated. |
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Deja
Joined: 18 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 10:51 am Post subject: |
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| le-paul wrote: |
| You also just confirmed what researchers tell retailers; that if you put a product on a higher shelf and increase the price, men will pay more. Its a trick thats as old as Noahs beard. |
I fail to see how this works with me, when I currently know exactly which region or even specific wine I want any time I go out and buy, that I never noticed the height of the shelf; and when I see the seller has less clue about wine than they know English, I check from top to bottom to find what I need, because they never put any sense in arranging the wines (except by country, and not always).
But, you said it yourself: things are overpriced in Korea. So, wines that are below 20.000 are those that in the west you can often buy for 10$ or less (i.e. half of that). There are some exceptions, definitely, but not a single wine in that price range that I tried anywhere and from whatever country in the world was really decent, but just adequate.
The Dulong wines, that cost 15-40.000KRW in Korea, I bought for under 10$ back in Europe. |
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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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| Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 4:03 pm Post subject: |
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I've got my own personal sommelier at my Emart. Only half-joking. For the last year or more, the young woman who runs the wine section greets me every week & steers me to the best option within my taste & price range (dry red, around man won). Obviously I'm not a connoisseur! But she always comes up with something tasty enough (often from Chile), keeps an eye out for heavily discounted bottles, & sometimes stashes a special bargain for me. She actually knows her stuff.
I also get a kick out of their two wine sample girls, both former students of mine, neither of legal drinking age. |
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Who's Your Daddy?
Joined: 30 May 2010
Location: Victoria, Canada.
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| Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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| AfroBurrito wrote: |
| Outside of Seoul, I don't think there are many Koreans who fancy a good glass of wine as much as they do a shot of soju. |
My city is only 500K people. At the Homeplus there is a very good selection. It's not like all the wealthy people live in Seoul. There are doctors, lawyers, MB500s, symphony concerts, rich people here too. |
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le-paul
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Location: dans la chambre
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| Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 7:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Deja wrote: |
| le-paul wrote: |
| You also just confirmed what researchers tell retailers; that if you put a product on a higher shelf and increase the price, men will pay more. Its a trick thats as old as Noahs beard. |
I fail to see how this works with me, when I currently know exactly which region or even specific wine I want any time I go out and buy, that I never noticed the height of the shelf; and when I see the seller has less clue about wine than they know English, I check from top to bottom to find what I need, because they never put any sense in arranging the wines (except by country, and not always).
But, you said it yourself: things are overpriced in Korea. So, wines that are below 20.000 are those that in the west you can often buy for 10$ or less (i.e. half of that). There are some exceptions, definitely, but not a single wine in that price range that I tried anywhere and from whatever country in the world was really decent, but just adequate.
The Dulong wines, that cost 15-40.000KRW in Korea, I bought for under 10$ back in Europe. |
Ok, but you said anything less than 20,000 is just acceptable. That proves that marketing works very well on you, despite being educated about what makes a good wine/value for money.
EG;
I offer you (the plural) three, identical products - one for 1000, one for 2000 and one for 3000. Youd think the first was too cheap (and maybe lower quality), the last over priced (but maybe better quality), and the middle one was better value for money (but not compromising quality). Its basic marketing. Thats how men usually work.
Just something to think about... |
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le-paul
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Location: dans la chambre
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| Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 7:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Who's Your Daddy? wrote: |
| AfroBurrito wrote: |
| Outside of Seoul, I don't think there are many Koreans who fancy a good glass of wine as much as they do a shot of soju. |
My city is only 500K people. At the Homeplus there is a very good selection. It's not like all the wealthy people live in Seoul. There are doctors, lawyers, MB500s, symphony concerts, rich people here too. |
Another topic for another time: 'The injudicious snobbery of people who live in Seoul'.
I live in a small town too. We have a wine shop that sells good wines, brandies etc. from around the world.
We also have electric-tisity that powers our horseless-cartridges (i think thats how it works). |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 10:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| I offer you (the plural) three, identical products - one for 1000, one for 2000 and one for 3000. Youd think the first was too cheap (and maybe lower quality), the last over priced (but maybe better quality), and the middle one was better value for money (but not compromising quality). Its basic marketing. Thats how men usually work. |
Yes, I heard restaurants traditionally sell the second cheapest wine on the menu with the biggest mark up. Generally guys, usually the ones doing the choosing, don't want to appear cheapskates, don't want to spend too much and basically don't know very much about wine.
| Quote: |
Another topic for another time: 'The injudicious snobbery of people who live in Seoul'.
I live in a small town too. We have a wine shop that sells good wines, brandies etc. from around the world.
We also have electric-tisity that powers our horseless-cartridges (i think thats how it works). |
Well, there were two points made about Seoul/wine. The first being that only rich people buy it which isn't the case nowadays when it sells for under 10,000 a bottle. The second is that people outside of Seoul don't like wine much and prefer Soju. I'd say this might have been the case a few years ago when it was quite a new thing in Korea. However I've never been able to order a bottle of wine in a Korean restaurant in the sticks, as you can sometimes in Seoul |
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Deja
Joined: 18 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 7:30 am Post subject: |
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| le-paul wrote: |
| Ok, but you said anything less than 20,000 is just acceptable. That proves that marketing works very well on you, despite being educated about what makes a good wine/value for money. |
Korea is an extremely specific market, and I was never impressed with a wine that was under 20.000KRW. I tried many, most of them being presents that I later check on.
The idea about 20.000KRW price line (13EUR) drops out if you go to Germany, for example, where you can find just about every wine region in a miniscule town's Real markt and at correct prices, literally.
And it makes no sense in the UK. But Korea is specific. And only here can I make such an assumption. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 7:51 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Korea is an extremely specific market, and I was never impressed with a wine that was under 20.000KRW. I tried many, most of them being presents that I later check on.
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Really? I buy nearly all my wine nowadays when one of the big Seoul department stores has a sale. I spend upwards of 400,000 and don't buy any more until the next one. You can get some very good stuff for under 20,000 on occasions like those. It's funny seeing most of the people there half filling a small basket with the stuff. Unless you're planning on taking the pledge or you've got something terminal, I can't see why you wouldn't go out and spend all your available cash/credit. It's free delivery as well. |
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Deja
Joined: 18 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 12:45 pm Post subject: |
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You're missing that I compare the regular list price. I always get them at discounts, so they mostly cost me under 20.000KRW. But the regular list price is one I use for the comparison.
It's not strange to find 50.000 bottles for 10-15.000 sometimes. But those are not under 20.000 list price bottles. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 4:50 pm Post subject: |
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Just go into the store with a set amount you are willing to spend and just buy at random and drink it. If you like it, buy it again. If not, don't.
Like everything else with a flavor, some people will enjoy it, some people won't. What matters is if you enjoy it. Screw the label or its country.
In Korea, personally I enjoy Villa Maria from New Zealand, but its hard to find and I'm not a huge wine drinker. Back home my cheapy of choice was Concha Y Toro a generic Chilean wine. I usually stick to bear or whiskey though.
Who am I kidding? I live in a small town in Korea. I usually end up at soju. You know, the way people end up at dice. |
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