This blog was great! I am totally up for trying different foods with wine. Sometimes Sometimes people get caught up with what wine goes with what food…..Why? I think that wine and food pairing should be simple. Drink the wine that YOU think compliments your meal. It’s an adventure, not a set of rules!

Some very good choices, I must say. If it were up to me I would have gone with Champagne (or prosecco), riesling and gewurztraminer for whites, and syrah and zinfandel for reds also. For some of the more delicate dishes, such as kimbap or jeon, pinot gris or chenin blanc would go well too, I think. And I think bulgogi screams for amarone (well, bulgogi is similar to braised beef in some ways, no?), but that might just be me. The real challenge is finding a red wine to go with kimchi, but I’ve heard that gaglioppo, a Calabrian grape, works quite nicely.

By the way, there’s so much more to traditional Korean liquors than soju. I think soju is vile, and I don’t touch that stuff unless I have to. The only reason soju has become popular in Korea is that it’s dirt cheap, about $1 for a bottle, and the reason Korean expats seek it out is because of sentimental values. On the other hand traditionally brewed soju made from rice, as opposed to mass market soju which is diluted grain alcohol distilled from tapioca, can compete with any sake in delicacy and complexity, and other traditional rice or herbal liquors can be pretty fabulous also. But people just don’t go out to try these thngs, and none of them are available outside Korea. I think it’s a crying shame.