Korean-Owned Napa Winery Earns Rare Platinum, Ranked No. 2 Worldwide

A white wine produced by a Korean-owned winery has earned one of the highest distinctions at a prestigious international wine competition.

The global wine competition ‘Best Wine of the World (BWW)’ recently announced that Dana Estates’ 2019 Hershey Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc was ranked second in the white wine category, receiving a Platinum rating in 2025.

Dana Estates was founded in 2005 by Lee Hee-sang, former chairman of the Dongawon Group, a company that has done flour business and owned Ferrari dealership rights in South Korea. It is recognized as the first Korean-owned winery in Napa Valley. The winery’s name is derived from Lee’s pen name, Danha (丹霞). Lee spends most of the year in Napa Valley, where he has personally built Dana Estates into its current form.

The competition organizers described the result as “arguably the greatest surprise of the entire white wine category.”

Multiple judges who tasted the Hershey Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc for the first time reportedly commented that it was “the finest Napa Valley white wine the jury had ever encountered.”

The organizers added that Dana Estates’ achievement marks “a landmark moment not only for the estate, but for Napa Valley white wine as a whole.”

Dana Estates also placed highly in the red wine category. According to the organizers, the 2022 Dana Lotus Vineyard ranked 15th among red wines, a notable accomplishment given that more than 11,000 wines competed overall. The result once again underscored the winery’s overall quality and competitiveness.

More than 5,000 wines were entered in this year’s white wine category. First place went to the 2019 Montrachet produced by Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC), the renowned Burgundy producer often described as making “the world’s most expensive wine.”

BY KYEONGJUN KIM [kim.kyeongjun1@koreadaily.com]