Maggie Moo Does the New Zealand Wine Festival

Living in Seoul definitely has it's advantages, one of the best being the many cultural events I get to attend on a regular basis. This week, I went to a wine festival hosted by the Kiwi Chamber of Commerce at the Grand Hyatt in Seoul. It was a fantastic day, expertly organized by Simon Walsh and Sunny Myung of Tiwi Trade; located in Itaewon. The event ran from 4:00-8:00 PM, providing ample time for me to get thoroughly drunk on quality wines, consume my own weight in delicious lamb and rub elbows with people far cooler me.

The festival is in it's 5th year and has recently spread to Busan as well. It featured over 80 different red & white wines from New Zealand vendors who were more than happy to accomodate my requests of filling my glass "just a touch more." For those who don't know much about wine or wonder why in the world Korea would host such a festival, here's a little break down:

New Zealand is rapidly becoming one of the most loved wine nations, their specialty being Sauvingon Blanc from the Marlborough region (one of my favorites). While the white wines far outweigh the amount of red, the quality of NZ's red can't be overlooked particularly from the Hawkes Bay and Gisbone regions. I highly recommend Wooing Tree's Central Otago Blondie, which is technically a red wine, despite it's unique color.

One of the highlights of the day was entertainment by Kiwi reggae band, One Drop East as the perfect accompaniment for any garden party. I wandered around blissfully extending my glass at each station I came to and tossing it back before remembering that I had 3 more hours of drinking to do and it might be best to slow down. By 5:00 PM I had consumed more wine in an hour, than I have previously drank in my entire life. Although I suppose I conducted myself quite well, considering no attempts were made to tackle strangers or to simulate a scrum, despite the fact that I was attending with my rugby team.

As the evening was winding down, I realized I didn't bring my business cards that I had printed specifically for events such as this. There was business card drawing so I decided to just toss in my ARC card. Low and behold, it was drawn and I won a bottle of Pinot Noir. The perfect ending to a great party and a wonderful pre-game present for the rest of my evening. Tickets were 90,000 won (roughly $80.00 USD) and worth every single penny for the unlimited drinks and genuinely amazing food! Now that the hangover has passed, I already cannot wait for next years event!

Even a little rain couldn't stop us!

What? Only an hour left? Consume as much as possible...

still standing...