Fermentation Atelier 1991 named among Korea's top destinations in two categories

Fermentation Atelier 1991 in Yeongyang-gun [Kyochon Food & Beverage]

Fermentation Atelier 1991, an agricultural corporation under Kyochon Food & Beverage, has been selected as a top destination in two categories — gastronomy and culture — under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Tourism Organization's "Korea's Hidden Gems 100x100 Project," the company announced Monday.

The project aims to uncover 10,000 notable destinations across the country by having the public vote on sites recommended by 100 travel experts. Over roughly three weeks starting in late June, more than 40,000 people cast a combined 1.53 million votes. Fermentation Atelier 1991 in Yeongyang-gun was selected in the gastronomy category's "Let's Go Drink Right Now" section and in the culture, arts and tradition category's "New-tro Dive: Cultural Regeneration Spaces" section.

Fermentation Atelier 1991 occupies a restored version of the former Yeongyang Brewery, originally established in 1926 and rebuilt through a collaboration between Kyochon Food & Beverage and Yeongyang-gun. It reopened in 2022. The facility now produces makgeolli using locally grown Yeongyang rice, based on a modernized recipe for "gamhyangju," a spoonable makgeolli documented in "Eumsik Dimibang," the earliest known hangul cookbook. Its products include "Eunhasu Byeolheneunbam" (12 percent alcohol by volume) and "Eunhasu Makgeolli" (6 and 8 percent). "Eunhasu Byeolheneunbam" won the grand prize in the high-alcohol makgeolli category at the Korea Traditional Liquor Competition and was designated the official dinner wine for the joint ministerial meeting on diplomacy and trade at the 2025 APEC Summit.

The 9,883 destinations selected through the project can be found on a website linked to "Daehanminguk Guseokguseok," the Korea Tourism Organization's domestic travel platform. Visitors can sample Fermentation Atelier 1991's makgeolli at the brewery and at the Yeongyang Flower Tea Social Cooperative, where makgeolli-based desserts are also available.

"We will continue to pursue shared growth with local communities while offering tourists who visit Yeongyang differentiated regional tourism content," a Fermentation Atelier 1991 official said.

andy@heraldcorp.com