Sinabro Winery

How It Began

Sinabro Winery started as a vineyard. Lee Geun-yong, who worked as an engineer, moved to Yeongdong, North Chungcheong, in 2007 to farm and founded Bulhwi Farm, a vineyard. He and his wife, Lee Seong-ok, left their working lives in Seoul and settled in Yeongdong, a region known for grapes. At first, like neighboring farms, they stayed in primary industry, growing and selling grapes, and Lee began researching native Korean wine together with his wife.

The turning point was Yeongdong-gun's special wine industry zone. When he heard the county was pushing to create the zone, Lee was the first to step forward. With support from the county, which was designated Korea's first special grape and wine industry zone, he converted to a winery in 2011, moving into secondary industry by turning the grapes he grew into wine himself.

“Sinabro” is Lee's motto. He says he has lived by the idea that what won't work won't work no matter how much you beg, and that if you go about your work calmly, things come together little by little without your noticing. Seeing his life reflected in the way wine is made, as the sugar in the grape flesh meets the yeast on the skin and slowly ferments, he chose the word as the brand name, wanting to put his life into his wine.

This is a winery where the whole family holds sommelier qualifications. Lee Geun-yong and Lee Seong-ok went through the U1 University Wine Academy and earned sommelier certificates in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Their son and daughter-in-law, Lee Byeong-uk and Park Yeong-gwang, who left city life in 2016 to farm, passed the Korea International Sommelier Association exam in May 2017, and the Hankook Ilbo reported that this was the first time in Korea that all four members of one family were registered with the association. The four of them divide grape growing and winemaking, running experience programs and sales, and publicity and marketing.

How the Liquor Is Made

From the start, the winery focused on white wine. The winery explains that it chose white while others focused on red. It judged that Campbell, the most common variety in Korea, is juicy but unsuited to winemaking, which requires a concentrated sweetness without water. Instead it chose Cheongsu, a native Korean green grape, and Lee says he was told this was the first white wine made in Yeongdong-gun.

Beyond Cheongsu, the winery has broadened its varieties and ingredients. P.S White Sparkling is made from Moscato, P.S Shine Sparkling from Shine Muscat, and P.S Rosé Sparkling from the native grape Narsha. PS Apple Cidre is a cidre made by fermenting apples grown in Yeongdong. The spirit Bayaheuro Oak uses both Portuguese and Korean oak to balance sweetness and acidity.

Signature Liquors and Lineage

The official history lists three wines, Sinabro Dry, Sweet and White, under 2011–2013. Under 2014, Cheongsu Sparkling and Cheongsu White are added along with Campbell Dry, Rosé and Sweet. Of these, Cheongsu White (750ml, 12%) is the house's signature liquor, which has gone on to win awards at the Korean Liquor Competition, the Asia Wine Trophy and the Berlin Wine Trophy, among others. The main products registered on thesool.com number 11, including four 750ml 12% wines, four 5% sparkling wines and cidres, and two 40% spirits.

The winery's strategy is to recommend different liquors to different kinds of drinkers. To wine lovers who drink often it introduces Cheongsu White, and to those who don't enjoy alcohol much, the sweet, carbonated Sinabro Étoile Sparkling. During the COVID-19 period, it released low-volume mini wines for drinking alone, vin chaud kits to make at home, and canned wine for camping. Combining wine foot spa and tasting courses for visitors with online and offline wine sales, its annual revenue in 2021 was about ₩400 million.

Recognition

Sinabro White won a gold medal at the 2015 Asia Wine Trophy in Daejeon. It went on to win gold at the same competition again in 2016, for a second straight time, and in 2018, for a third, and Sinabro wine won the top prize at the 2016 Korea Wine Festival. In 2019 it won the top prize in the fruit wine category of the Korean Liquor Competition, and in 2020 it received Grade B liquor quality certification from the Korea Food Research Institute. The official website also mentions a Berlin Wine Trophy award, but the year and medal have not been confirmed.

In 2020 it was selected as a “Visiting Brewery” under the program run by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation. In the same year it became the first winery in Korea to receive HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) certification. The official website explains that it obtained the certification ahead of rising consumer interest in food safety.