North Gyeongsang, Korea
North Gyeongsang Province is the unlikely birthplace of Korean wine — a region better known for its ancient temples, traditional markets, and role as the heartland of the Silla Kingdom than for anything in a wine glass. But it was here, on land deemed unsuitable for rice farming, that South Korea's commercial wine story quietly began.
The origins trace back to a practical government decision in the early 1970s. Realising that the nation's rice harvest was insufficient to meet demand, and looking to diversify agricultural land use, the government turned to grapes. Vineyards were established across North Gyeongsang Province on exactly the kind of hilly terrain that couldn't support rice, and in 1974 South Korea's first domestic wine was produced — Noble Wine, made by the Haitai company. A dedicated winery followed in the late 1970s in Gyeongsan, producing what became the Majuang label using Riesling grapes, in a location officially compared at the time to the Mosel Valley in Germany for its climate. That comparison was optimistic, but the intent was clear: Korea was attempting serious wine, not just a novelty product
