Purple Dog

What's in the box: Wines chosen by the Purple Dog team and matched to your taste profile, mostly mid-priced imported reds with some whites, rosés and sparkling wines.

Purple Dog is a Korean wine retailer and app that runs a regular wine subscription built around taste matching. Its staff choose the wines, and an AI system matches bottles to your preferences. The idea is that you can enjoy wine without knowing much about it. The site has pages explaining how the subscription works, a wine feedback section where members rate what they drank, subscriber reviews and an FAQ. That suggests your ratings help shape future picks. The range leans toward approachable imports from Italy, Spain, France, the US and Australia. Reds make up most of it, with some whites, rosés, sparkling and dessert wines mixed in. Most single bottles in the store cost 35,000 to 45,000 won, with a few pricier picks. The most important practical point is pickup. The site says alcohol must be collected in person at a Purple Dog store and is not delivered to consumers. That follows Korean rules on liquor sales, but it means the service suits people who live or work near a pickup location, such as the Songpa main store. The homepage does not clearly list subscription tiers or their prices, so check the subscription pages before signing up. Purple Dog also hosts in-store tastings and publishes a magazine, which helps beginners learn as they drink.