KWC selects the best wines for the Korean palate

This year marked the 17th anniversary of Korea’s one and only International Wine Competition, known as the KOREA WINE CHALLENGE (KWC), hosted by the monthly magazine < Wine Review >. Under the slogan of ‘Selecting the best quality wines for the Korean palate to introduce the most trustworthy wines to customers’ KWC has made dedicated efforts to develop the Korean wine market over the past 16 years. KWC is, domestically, considered an unparalleled platform for identifying global trends in the wine industry, while being one of the useful indicators for overseas wineries to consider when preparing to enter the Korean market.

A total of over 700 wines from 16 countries were exhibited at the KWC 2020. A surprise entry was made from countries such as Morocco, Moldova, Germany, Austria, Greece, Canada, and South Africa with their distinctive wines in the competition. Despite the difficult times caused by COVID-19 pandemic, we managed to carry it out successfully last year. KWC remains fully operational this year and the registration starts on 1st March 2021. Entry samples and form must be submitted before the competition begins. The delivery deadline for samples is 17th June 2021.

The number of entries has kept increasing. We specially give thanks to domestic wine importers for entering into the spirit of things. As the most reputable international wine competition in Korea, KWC promise that we will keep trying to ensure the fair evaluation of event.

From June 21 to June 30, all of the wines that participated in this competition will be categorized by country of origin, varieties, blending ratio, oenology and price, but being evaluated through impartial and strictly monitored blind tasting. The competition adopted a 100-point scoring system in which a default score of 50 points was given to all wines entering the contest as a courtesy for the effort of sending a bottle of wine for the competition. The remaining 50 points were strictly and fairly allocated by the selected panel of judges in the following categories; 6 points for the ‘color and appearance’, 12 points for ‘aroma and bouquet’, 20 points for ‘flavor and finish’, and 12 points for ‘harmony and balance’.

As this is a highly publicized international convention greeting its 17th anniversary, it was successfully completed because the criteria and regulations of the judges were more strictly enforced for fair judgement. The judges for the KWC 2021 will consist of wine experts including practicing sommeliers working in close contact with the general public, and wine importers who actually import fine wines into Korea through carefully researching the preferences of the general population.

As for the KWC 2021’s awards, ‘Trophies’ will be given to the best wines in seven different categories: Red, White, Sparkling, Rose, Sweet, Ice wine, and Fortified. ‘Best of country’ awards, equally prestigious to a trophy, are chosen from wines scoring over 94 points. ‘Best of country’ accolade bestowed to 9 Best Reds and 1 Best White from countries of great contribution last year.

From a total of 704 entries at the KWC 2020, 7 ‘Trophies’ and 10 ‘Best of Countries’ were awarded as well as 92 Gold Medals, 183 Silver Medals, and 90 Bronze Medals. These highly verified wines will open up a whole new vista on Korean wine market. One of key objectives of this event is to increase awareness to wine seeking distributions in Korea and understanding for the awards-winning wines which combine quality and value. Achieving an award in our competition is, therefore, in itself a major feat.

Finally, your participation in KWC 2021 would be greatly appreciated. We look forward to helping you further extend your position in Korean wine market.

KWC JURY MEMBERS SINCE 2005