SA toast of the town in South Korea
SA winemakers have won a top honour at a major event expected to draw around 100,000 visitors.
South Australia is the Guest Country of Honour at this year’s 2025 Daejeon International Wine Expo (DIWE) from October 24 to 26, where 20 SA based wine companies are to be showcased.
The announcement followed the Trade and Investment Minister Joe Szakacs’ trade mission in South Korea last year as the state looks to boost its wine exports across Asia.
“It’s a great demonstration of the growing economic relationship between South Korea and South Australia,” Szakacs said.
“The showcasing of SA at the DIWE is a direct result of our engagement with South Korea and our significant efforts to diversify our exports to new and emerging markets.”
DIWE is expected to host 100,000 visitors during the three-day event where 16 different countries will pitch their wine to importers, distributors, retailers and wine enthusiasts
The South Australian Wine Ambassadors Club (SAWAC) — established by the State Government — is an international network of wine advocates aimed at assisting SA wineries in exporting to new markets.
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SAWAC member and Australian wine journalist Tony Love said the DIWE would be “a great opportunity” to highlight SA wineries through masterclasses at the South Australian Wine Lounge.
“We have to be there at the forefront to showcase South Australia and to have them front of mind, so it’s really important that we are there and building good relationships with those distributors and importers.”
The Adelaide region is one of 11 globally recognised Great Wine Capitals, alongside France’s famous Bordeaux region and Napa Valley in California.
Love said the diversity of South Australia’s wine region is “one of our great strengths” and would stand out at the DIWE.
“Distributors are in the mindset for exploring new things — they are looking for specific wine to add to their portfolios and we need to be there to be able to satisfy that need,” he said.
“We can use wine as a portal to say this is South Australia, come and visit us — tourist wise, students, families, businesses — it’s a really great relationship builder.”
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Szakacs said the State Government has identified South Korea as a priority diversification market.
“We see a significant growth and deepening of our relationship economically particularly around space defence, steelmaking — so that is fundamentally why South Korea is so important for South Australia.”
Adelaide will also host the Australia-Korea Business Council (AKBC) and Korea-Australia Business Council (KABC) Joint Meeting for the first time in September 2026.
“Attracting the most senior business leaders from South Korea to Adelaide next year is a really important opportunity for us to continue to encourage new investment into South Australia,” he said.
“We’ll be able to showcase to those leaders our wonderful economy, wonderful tourism offering and our wonderful natural environment offerings that South Koreans value so deeply”
SA’s Guest Country of Honour at DIWE comes after wine producers across the state sold an additional $6.4 million of wine to Canada between April and August according to latest ABS trade statistics.
The increase in sales follows the decision from Canada’s largest retailer — Liquor Control Board of Ontario — to remove US wine from its stores after tariffs were imposed by President Donald Trump.
Szakacs said the 15 per cent growth over the past five months was a “direct result of prioritising with the Canadian Government,” which followed meetings with key executives from the Canadian Wine industry.
“I’ve got a high degree of confidence that across the coming six to twelve months we will see more growth as well.”
