When Aging Is Good - HamyAng Wine Valley

 When a friend is released from a very strict 14 day quarantine - for the 4th time - you and your friends take her out for a drink.

함미앙정원 HamyAng Hamien Garden rests among the Jirisan mountains. 

They call this the aging room. It is underground where the temperature is maintained at 53-60℉ year-round.  These grapes are picked at the end of September, crushed, fermented and juiced. The undiluted solution is stored in these tanks and aged for at least three years. One of these tanks contains enough wine to fill 15,000 bottles. 

Wine caves are the perfect humidity for aging because the temperature is always maintained. After the wine is put in an oak barrel, the oak flavor is permeated for 6 months to a year. The smaller the barrel, the more the oak scent permeates the wine. These barrels are 225L in capacity and hold 300 bottles of wine. These oak barrels are used three times. After that the oak flavor is gone and the lifespan is over. 

 After being flavored in the barrel, the wine is then transferred to a wine bottle for long-term storage. Because moisture is always maintained in the cave, mold develops on the wine bottle. In some countries, wine bottles with mold are advertised to increase brand value.

Fun fact: Wine hates sunlight and movement/vibrations. It likes darkness and a calm, quiet atmosphere.

 Hamien Garden rests on a small hill. They created a little garden area with lots of photo ops.

Another fun fact: Grape cultivation began in the mountainous area of Atasan Mountain between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea around 6,000 BC, when wine juice was naturally fermented.

The trip was topped off with a wine foot bath. There's a first for everything!

The process started with wine being poured into our tub.

Next he added hot water.

Then we soaked.

In the words of HamyAng Wine Valley: "One good thing about aging is old friends. Another is wine. Older friends are better, and older wines are better."

[October 23]