PURPOSE
- - Select best wine for korean palate and introduce great wine
- - Offer the place for the promotion of the growth of the wine market
- - Establish a marketing strategy for the settling down of a sound wine culture in korea
HOSTED BY
- Monthly magazine specializing in wine
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
Min Seok Kyung | Hyo Seok Ko | Yong Kim | Si Bo Kim |
In Gyu Kim | Ju Yong Kim | Jin Yong Kim | Yoon Kyu Park |
Eun Ae Park | Jong Sub Park | Dong Hyuk Shin | Doo Hee Woo |
Hye Yun Woo | Yoon Hee Lee | Jae Min Lee | Jong Hwa Lee |
Chang Geun Lee | Yoon Joo Jo | Young June Choi | Eun Sik Choi |
Jong Ae Choi | Sung Il Han | Sung Hee Han | Seung Ho Hwang |
Yong Hee Kim | Hyeop Kim | Sun Young Moon | Chang Ho Moon |
Ji Gwang Park | Se Jung Bae | Myung Hee Song | Dong Ik Shin |
Jung Hee Yang | Hyung Woo Oh | Min Young Yoo | Hyo Jung Yoon |
Paul Eun | Joo Hyun Lee | Dae Seong Jung | Nae Jin Cho |
Soo Min Jo | Young Hyun Cho | Hyun Cheol Cho | John Choi |
Jeong Eun Choi | Sun Pil Kang | Si Gyun Kim | Chang Mo Kim |
Yang Soo Jang | Lark Mi Jung | Mi Gyeong Kim | Min Joo Kim |
A Lim Kim | Jun Geun Kim | Jin Seop Kim | Hyun Soo Kim |
Hui Su Kim | Min Wook Bak | Hyeong Min Park | Seon Yong Shin |
Yoon Ju Yang | Ga Ram Lee | So Ri Lee | Soo Jung Lee |
Seung Hoon Lee | Joo Hyeong Lee | Chang Ik Lee | Woon Kyung Jang |
Hyi Su Han | Jae Kyung Hong | Sang Gun Kim | Seok Geun Kim |
Seon Hui Kim | Nathan Kim | Yeong Uk Kim | Yong Hyeon Kim |
Yun Ki Kim | Hyeon Ju Kim | Hyung Nam Kim | Hye Ryeong Kim |
Heung Su Kim | Hee Jeon Kim | Hae Won Park | Gyeong Seon Seo |
Won Seon Seo | Hee Seok Suh | Yong Ran Song | Dong Hoon Shin |
Chang Min Shin | Jun Hwan An | Hye Sung An | Dae Hoon Yang |
Je Gyu Woo | Byeong Gyun Yoo | Seung Min Yoo | Young Jin Yoo |
Il Yong Yoon | Dong Gu Lee | Dong Gyu Lee | Sang Jun Lee |
Sang Hoon Lee | Jung Hoon Lee | Je Hun Lee | Jun Haeng Lee |
Hyun rae Lim | Mi Hyun Jung | Jae Hoon Jung | Ha Bong Jung |
Eul Ho Cho | Tae Ik Choi | Chang Won Ha | Young Il Han |
Gyu Yeon Ham | Sun Ho Hwang | Chang Shin Kang | Hyun Uk Kim |
Hyung Nam Kim | Yoon Ha Bae | Jun Woo Lee | Jun Seon Choi |
Chang Geun Choi | Kwang Hyun Hong | Hong Sik Kwon | Dowan Kim |
Jong Rye Kim | Hyeong Uk Kim | Hye Young Kim | Do Yul Wang |
Han Il Lee | Woo Young Jung | Young Il Jo | Hang Dae Cho |
Moon Bae Ju | Kyung Jin Lee | Oliver Brandenburg | Wo Sung Sim |
Sang Sun Yoo | Dong Woo Lee | Ha Neul Kim | Heon Tae Cha |
THE JUDGE COMMENTS
JUDGING METHOD
The judgement sheet for KOREA WINE CHALLENGE is based on the rating system developed by the Association of Italian Sommeliers[AIS] and adapted to condition-in korea.
Evaluation Method - Four categories of judging a wine are apploied in a weighted scale to a wine as explained below. | |
---|---|
Color and Appearance | 6 points |
Aroma and Bouquet | 12 points |
Flavor and Finish | 20 points |
Harmony and Balance | 12 points |
Basic Point | 50 points (for the consideration of producing the wine and delivering it for the competition) |
Total Point 100 points |
Sample Evaluation Form
