The agricultural company Hwayang's Korean rice wine "Pungjeong-sagye Chu" won the grand award at the 2025 Korea Wine & Spirits Awards hosted by ChosunBiz.
The Korea Wine & Spirits Awards is the representative liquor competition in South Korea, now in its 12th year. It has been held annually by ChosunBiz since 2014 with the goal of "discovering good domestic wines and widely promoting them, supporting the formation of a healthy liquor culture."
This year's event saw 236 companies submit a total of 1,008 brands, making it the largest liquor competition in South Korea. Among them, 431 brands received the Daesang.
"Pungjeong-sagye Chu" used only local rice from Cheongju, the world's oldest rice-growing region. It was crafted using traditional hand-pressed Hyangwon-gok (traditional mung bean nuruk). Unlike modern mass-production methods, it is characterized by slow aging for over 100 days in traditional earthenware, capturing the essence of nature. It harmoniously blends the fresh aroma of just-ripened fruit with a unique floral fragrance. The texture is fairly heavy.