WINE TASTING SHOWCASES TWELVE CALIFORNIA WINERIES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SEOUL, KOREA

European-Korea Foundation in Seoul hosted a wine tasting for twelve California wineries on January 14, 2008. There was over 40 different bottles of wine available for tasting. Stan Phillips from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service was there to start the program. This was the first time these wines were introduced into the Korean market. Over 75 people attended the event, including importers, distributors, members of the European-Korea Foundation was a joint effort with JJC Wine Co., a wine brokerage firm out of United States and European-Korea Foundation. The goal of the event was to promote and help export wines produced by small to medium sized wineries.

According to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s annual report, wine imports in the first half of 2007 grew 75 percent overall. Import from United States grew 33 percent during the same period. With the pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the growth of import of wines produced in the United States is expected to continue to rise.

While large wineries have the internal sales force to find export markets overseas, it's not practical, and generally cost prohibitive for most small to medium sized wineries to try and find export markets in-house. Additionally, time difference, geographical challenges, and cultural differences pose difficulties for many small to medium sized wineries. Other challenges for American wineries in exporting to Korea includes foreign competition and taxes. In 2005, Chile surpassed the United States to become the second largest exporter of wine to Korea after implementation of Korea-Chile free trade agreement in 2004. Alcoholic beverages are heavily taxed in Korea (approximately 45% depending on alcohol content). However, due to the continued appreciation of Korean Won against the U.S. Dollar, and the pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA), wine from the United States is expected to continue to increase in Korea. Two long-established American suppliers are E&J Gallo and Constellation Brands.

For more information about this topic, please contact Jeena Cho at 813/884-8333 or e-mail her at sales@jeenacho.com

JJC Wine Co.
Tampa, FL
813/884.8333
Jeena Cho

JJC Wine Co. specialize in assisting small to medium sized wineried in the United States find markets Asia.

This release was published on openPR.