South Korea's only grape and wine industry special zone is located in Chungcheongbuk-do province.<br />From grape farming to barrel production, the region is looking to cover all the stages of wine making.<br />Park Se-young reports. <br />These containers hold wine made using grapes from Yeongdong County of Chungcheongbuk-do province.<br />The wine served at the dinner banquet at Cheong Wa Dae during the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics was produced at this winery.<br />Sales of wine from some 40 wineries in Yeongdong County have been nudging up thanks to word of mouth.<br />Now, the county is working to foster the wine barrel market.<br />This workshop received nearly 180-thousand U.S. dollars from the local government three years ago …to produce oak barrels using domestic oak trees.<br />This was aimed at reducing production costs and producing domestic wine with unique flavors.<br />After research, the company was able to overcome the bitter taste of Korean oak trees and produce barrels as good as those produced in Europe.<br />Yeongdong County was designated as Korea's only grape and wine industry zone in 2005, …and has been supporting brewing facilities at farming households since 2008.<br />Every year, the government sends trainee farmers to France and Italy to learn winemaking skills.<br />"If we're able to establish a solid basis for wine production, we can become number one in Korea and even look at overseas exports."<br />From viniculture to fermentation and barrel production, Yeongdong County is looking to make inroads into the wine industry.<br />Park Se-young, Arirang News. <br /><br />
