#274 People
These days, wine is appearing more often on Korean dinner tables. We often associate wine with a sommelier. Sommeliers often appear in commercial advertisements and even in comic books. However, what do we know exactly about them? Have you ever heard of a sommelier? Chonnam Tribune met one of them, Jin Jeong-hoon (Senior, Dept. of French Language and Literature). Let’s discover the world of a sommelier through this interview with him. - Ed. Before getting into the interview, he said that people often misunderstand a sommelier. People usually just know that a sommelier is a person who judges the taste of wine. However, Jeong-hoon said that the primary role of a sommelier is to recommend which wine will best complement any particular food in fine restaurants and hotels. 
Thus, a sommelier should not only be learned in the taste of wines, but also in the year of harvesting, wine-producing areas, and so on. A sommelier is also responsible for the renewal of wine lists and the overall management of wine service including procurement, storage, sale, etc. Currently, many famous wine schools are located in
Looking for His Way
Most people are ignorant of non-conventional occupations. A sommelier is a rare profession in
When I entered university, I studied tourism diligently with one of my best friends.
However, tourism was rather complex and much less practical than I had expected. So, my friend and I gave it up.
After that, I began to find some other work connected to tourism and discovered a sommelier by accident.
This profession was also associated with my major, so I found it really interesting. I then began to read wine books on how to become a sommelier."
He began to study wine at
He had studied wine in
His Motto
It is his motto to ‘try first, and regret later'. He said that it is better to regret after trying to do something than not to try it at all. He had been absorbed deeply in tourism before beginning to study wine. When he was 23 years old, he read an article about a Korean tourism research institute and researchers by chance. He visited the research institute to learn about their work.
It was rather unusual that such a young student visited famous and high-ranking people. When he visited them, they seemed to be very busy, but they welcomed and praised him for his courage and pro-activity. He received a lot of advice and information that would help his future and guide his course of life. He still keeps in touch with these people.
To My Juniors in CNU
"Society permits university students to make mistakes, because university students, especially freshman and sophomores, are regarded socially as immature. Don't be afraid of making mistakes and regret, just go for it." He emphasized that a positive attitude is the all-important thing to accomplish one’s dream.
Maybe, it is practical to follow the trend of the times. These days, most people are in pursuit of a stable life because of social insecurity. Therefore, many CNU students prepare for civil service exams to get a permanent job.
Of course, this is not necessarily bad. Jeong-hoon advised, “I hope all CNU students discover their hopes and dreams, contemplate what they can do to make the rest of their life worthwhile, and then choose their profession or occupation. After deciding, they must make their utmost efforts to accomplish it. All CNU students have their own individual merit.”
He wants to be an important person in the Korean wine market and play an important role in exchanging cultures between
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Jin Jeong-hoon began to study wine at
<Tip: The best match ‘Wine & food’> ▲ The Well-matching Foods with Wine
There is no definitive formula for which wine should go with any given Korean food. Most sommeliers recommend white wine with seafood or fish and red or rose with red meat.
‘Bulgogi’, one of
What is a Sommelier?