A price difference of 100,000 won... "I was served a swapped wine at Chef Sung Seong-jae's restaurant" review sparks controversy [Star Issue]

*This content was translated by AI.

A suspicion of wine swapping has emerged at Seoul (hereinafter referred to as Mosu), a fine-dining restaurant operated by Chef Sung Seong-jae. Sung Seong-jae is well known as a judge on the Netflix series "Black and White Chef Lisa" and is also the only chef in Korea to have received a three-star Michelin rating.

On the 21st, a post titled "I was served a swapped Chateau Leoville Barton vintage at Mosu Seoul" was published on a large Naver cafe with over 200,000 registered members.

Writer A emphasized, "First, I would like to state that all the content below is based on facts," and began by saying, "I am leaving a review regarding an incident that occurred at Mosu last Saturday (April 18)."

He stated, "An issue arose with the pairing wine served alongside one of the main menu items, 'Wood-fired Hanwoo beef.'" He claimed that while the 2000 vintage of Chateau Leoville Barton (Saint-Julien) was included on the pairing list, the sommelier mistakenly served a 2005 vintage wine, which is 100,000 won cheaper at Mosu.

A said, "Neither I nor my companions remembered the vintage listed on the pairing menu when we were served the wine." He added that even after being told by the sommelier that the 2005 vintage differed from the list, they were unaware that the service was incorrect.

However, when A requested to take a photo of the wine bottle for personal records, the sommelier brought a 2000 vintage bottle instead of the 2005 vintage wine that had been poured into the glass. A explained, "At Mosu, all wine bottles served were photographed for record-keeping purposes, and the sommelier was aware of this. After serving the wine, whenever I requested it, the sommelier would place the bottle on the table. All previously served wines were immediately placed on the table, but this time, strangely, the sommelier said, 'Just a moment,' went to the staff area, and then returned to place the bottle on the table."

He continued, "As you can see in the photo below, it was a 2000 vintage bottle. In other words, the bottle was from the 2000 vintage, but the wine in the glass was from the 2005 vintage. At that point, I did not immediately realize the discrepancy. Neither I nor my companions noticed at first. However, after smelling and tasting the wine and checking the pairing list, I finally realized that the 2000 vintage should have been served."

A said, "I was worried that my companions and I might have misunderstood or misremembered, so I reviewed the photo taken during the initial service and confirmed that the wine served at the time was indeed the 2005 vintage. I then politely asked the sommelier for clarification, at which point he admitted, 'The 2000 vintage bottle was ordered as a bottle, and the bottle was downstairs.' He then said, 'In that case, I will let you taste the 2000 vintage Bordeaux.' The wine we were supposed to receive properly was the 2000 vintage, so I could not help but feel bewildered by the sommelier's response."

A pointed out that the two wines had a price difference of 100,000 won at Mosu. He stated, "When I requested a photo of the bottle after the 2005 vintage was served, the sommelier said, 'Just a moment,' and brought the 2000 vintage bottle to place on the table. This suggests he was aware from the moment of service. Of course, anyone can make a mistake. Labels can be confusing, and the vintage numbers might be misread at a glance. However, is it plausible that a sommelier at a two-Michelin-star restaurant would make such an error? Moreover, he offered to let us taste the 2000 vintage. There was no apology on the day. The handling and response were extremely disappointing."

He concluded the post with a reminder: "Everyone should carefully check whether the wine pairing list matches the bottle vintage when dining at Mosu or other restaurants."

Comments on the post included: "The response was disappointing," "If this spreads, Mosu will contact you and apologize, but you didn't post this to receive an apology. Why would the sommelier do something that puts the entire restaurant in a difficult position due to their own mistake?" "You must have been truly bewildered. Offering to let you taste the wine?" "You arranged a pleasant occasion for your cherished friends, but the disappointing response may leave this special moment remembered only as a wine issue, which is very sad," "Fine dining restaurants rely on alcohol sales for revenue, and this is a critical mistake," "They should have admitted the mistake and handled it properly, which is very disappointing," and "People who don't know much about wine (wine novices) should avoid expensive restaurants."

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*This content was translated by AI.