u/jwaynejrthefourth

Haven’t seen any mention of this news on here but it’s a huge issue in Korea rn. MOSU (prev 3*, had to shutdown and relocate due to investment issues, now newly 2*) has been under fire for an issue relating to wine.

Here are the facts as I know them in chronological order: a customer went in a group of 4 to MOSU, ordering the premium wine pairing. One of the listed wines was a 2000 Chateau Leoville-Barton (in Korea, goes for just under $500 USD… Ik, horrendous). However, when the time came, the somm poured a 2005 LB (around $70 USD cheaper) and even announced it as the 2005 vintage. Interestingly, the customer claims she had been taking pictures of the paired wines all night, and the somm had noted this, leaving the bottle on the table after each pour for her to take photos. However, only with this wine, he swiftly walked away with the bottle.

Confused, the customer checked the pairing list only to realize that it was supposed to be 2000. She brought this up to the somm, who stated that the 2000 had been purchased by a table downstairs (by the btl) and was thus “unavailable” for pairing. He then shortly returned with said bottle in hand and offered to let her take a pic.

At this point, the customer was clearly shocked and annoyed (she claims she did not want to make a big fuss as she was with her seniors). The somm decided to pour her a small amount of the 2000 and remarked, “Isn’t it great that you get to taste two vintages side by side?” This was done in a snarky/condescending tone (gramatically) hard to translate into English. There was no apology this night according to the customer.

Several days later, the customer called MOSU to notify them of this issue, to which their response was “Is there something you are trying to get out of this?” Again, in a snarky tone. It was this that ultimately led her to post a public write-up of her experience. Public outrage followed swiftly, and MOSU replied through their official Ig with a very dismissive post, using phrases like “wine service process and detailed circumstances” to refer to what people perceived as blatant theft (again, hard to explain in English, but in Korean, it was very clear that they were trying to evade blame).

3 days ago, a famous Youtuber by the name of WineKing (Jay) uploaded a video in which he criticized MOSU, emphasizing that a bigger, ignored issue was that the table who had ordered the 2000 had their wine taken, shown, and poured to a different customer without their knowledge. This video blew up, with over 1.5M views currently (a LOT for Korea).

Following this, Chef Anh posted a lengthy apology in which he clarified, or attempted to clarify, multiple things. First, he admitted that the somm did in fact pour the wrong wine, realized his mistake, and failed to alert the customer. However, he stated that no 2000 LB was purchased by a different table that night; in other words, the somm had made that up on the spot. He apologized profusely before stating that the somm in question has been removed from “customer-facing duties” but not fired (very confusing to me, since that is quite literally the job of a somm).

There are several points that have upset the general Korean public, which I understand/agree with to various degrees:

1. Assuming it was a mistake, the somm should’ve apologized as soon as he realized instead of waiting for the customer to complain. By failing to do so, it seems clear that he hoped to dupe her or hoped that she wouldn’t notice.
2. The somm’s snarky comment about him giving a “unique opportunity” to the customer
3. The restaurant’s snarky question on the call, asking if the customer wanted anything in return instead of addressing the issue
4. Failure (until Chef Anh’s post) to apologize for the event, and even then, their insistence on phrasing it as a “mishap/incident.”
5. Why Chef Anh seemed to only wait until WineKing’s video blew up before explaining himself
6. Why Chef Anh did not fire the somm
7. Why Chef Anh deleted comments on his personal Youtube instead of addressing the issue (again, until the WineKing video blew up)

All in all, there’s some more details here and there (like old videos of a somm and Chef Anh resurfacing, and ppl criticizing their tone when talking abt customers). Personally, this is shocking and disgusting to me; both the initial “mistake” (which seems intentional to me) and the subsequent treatment. Then again, I’m relatively new to fine dining (~3 years) and wondering what others think / similar cases that have happened in the past. Do scandals like these happen and just blow away?

A short rant: I have very recently come to become very dejected about Burgundy. Ik this doesn’t come across as a particularly new take, but I think my experiences with the region are especially poor.

For reference, most wines I drink are in the $1-200 range, so not exactly cheap. A once-a-month splurge usually inches into $400+ territory. I’d be more understanding if ny budget was $50 per bottle, but for my budget, I feel that I should be able to experience great wines from almost any region (Ik this isn’t how prices and markets work). That being said, bar exactly one occassion, I have been severely underwhelmed by Burgundian wines. I find the reds overly primary, fruit bombs, and like a tight coil. Not tannic or high alcohol but just unpleasant to drink. The whites… better but just not complex enough for the price. I find them one-dimensional and flat, and they don’t particularly evolve in the glass.

I mean, for $150ish, I’ve found I can get AMAZING, 15-20yo Bordeaux, Southern/Northern Rhone, Riesling, etc. Like, with good bottle condition, knock my socks off level.

I will absolutely acknowledge my lack of experience is the likely culprit, but just wanted to rant. I do think my palate much prefers aged wines. Not sure if anyone has advice or particularly wines to try…