1. It’s a foreign affair:

Unlike China, or other growth wine markets like USA or Brazil, South Korea is firmly fixated on imported still wines, rather than its own domestic products. And unlike other East-Asian markets, where French wines generally dominate, the 11+ million South Koreans (Wine Calibration Study 2010) who drink imported wines have welcomed Chilean wine as their number 1 imported grape-based wine in terms of overall volume (IWSR 2010) – a trend which can in part be attributed to a long-standing free trade agreement. However an equivalent EU free trade agreement will be coming into force in July 2011 is predicted to boost volume growth for Old World producers. 

2. Wine is winning young hearts:  

Even when compared to the USA – another market with a young wine-drinking consumer profile – South Korea looks particularly young. Over a third of the country’s imported wine drinkers are aged 29 or younger (South Korea Vinitrac® 2010). The trendy and sophisticated reputation wine enjoys in South Korea, offers a great potential for wine marketers, and is perhaps best conveyed by the popularity of Terroir. Not in sense that you might think however. “Terroir” is a popular TV drama based around wine and the steamy relationship between a glamorous Korean traditional wine expert and a dashing mysterious wine connoisseur! 

3. Wired about wine:

The internet is one of the most popular sources of wine information for imported wine drinkers in South Korea (Vinitrac® 2010). This is after all a country that boasts more internet connections per head than any other nation on earth and reputedly has the fastest and cheapest broadband connections on the planet. Around 1/3 of Koreans have a broadband internet connection which is higher than in the UK, US and Japan (South Korea Landscapes Report 2011).