Dokdo Wine is operated by Emmanuel Lee; Dokdo made their first wine in 2007 but did not release it. The first commercial vintage of Dokdo was in 2008 produced by Lee and winemaker Robert Shawn Denkler (died 2020). This wine brand is an homage to the Dokdo Islands (in Korean meaning solitary island), two primary rocky islets with disputed ownership for more than 300 years between Japan and South Korea. They are also known as the Liancourt Rocks and as the Takeshima Islands (meaning bamboo island) by the Japanese. Besides the two main islands, there are approximately 35 additional smaller permanent rocky outcrops; Dokdo Islands are only accessible from South Korea, taking a regularly scheduled three hour ferry ride from the mainland to the island of Ulleungdo and then another three hour ferry ride to Dokdo.
And due to weather, they are only accessible in the summer months and even then, if the waters are too choppy the ferry will not dock and will only circle the islands. Visitors are allowed 30 minutes on the island, only in the section that is open to the public. The islands used to be occupied by several South Korean citizens until they passed away; today they are permanently occupied by approximately 40 Korean security police who serve rotations on the island. We are often in Asia; we will visit these islands and will update our notes and photography here by summer 2026.
The Dokdo wines were originally bottled with the label, 799-805, a prior zip code for Dokdo Island. One of these wines won a gold medal at the Korea Wine Challenge in 2012. But the South Korean government changed this zip code to 40240; as a result the Dokdo wines are now bottled listing this current zip code.
Emanual discovered rare wines and how to make money from selling them while studying at Boston College. He spotted a bottle of Chateau Margaux for $500 in a local wine shop. The owner told him it had been rated 100 points by someone named Robert Parker. Emmanuel remembers retuning to the library and researching Robert Parker and his 100 point scores. He purchased that bottle and then additional bottles of Chateau Margaux.
While looking at the selection of wines carried at Aabalat Fine & Rare Wines in Petaluma, CA (founded 1995) Emmanuel spotted a single bottle of 1961 Chateau Latour a Pomerol listed for $5,000. The bottle was on consignment so he asked to talk to the seller regarding its pedigree. The seller showed him the original box with 5 more of these rare and coveted bottles. Emanual called up his friend in South Korea, mentioning the opportunity to purchase all of the bottles. His friend purchased the rest of the bottles and they later sold them for a handsome profit.
Emmanuel worked as a wine broker at Aabalat Fine & Rare Wines from 2003 through 2006. While now under different ownership, Aabalat is still in business. During his time at Aabalat, Emmanuel was exposed to a diversity of extremely rare and limited production wines and collectors; the concierges at American Express Black Card would often call to utilize their services. And it is at Aabalat where he met Dokdo’s first winemaker, Denkler.
Denkler, a UC Davis graduate began working at Robert Mondavi Winery in 1976. From 1984 until 1998 he operated D’Vine Wine Merchants, a Napa based company specializing in selling wines both wholesale and retail rare wines from Europe. He was one of the early adopters of using the internet to sell wines, to his sizeable mailing list. And he operated 6,000 square feet of wine storage lockers, rented to collectors. He was the winemaker for Dokdo wines from 2008 through 2017. Winemaker Marc Gagnon crafted the Dokdo wines from 2018 through 2022.
After Rick Sajbel, the founder of Aabalat passed Emmanuel left the business. He reached out to a broker he knew in New York and secured rare wines to export to South Korea. With a partner, he founded a wine company called 55 Degrees based in Seoul (no relation to the wine storage company of the same name in Napa). He introduced a number of Napa wines to the South Korean market for the first time including wines from Girard Winery. He became the exclusive importer of Girard’s wines; through his relationship with Girard Winery he met Pat Roney, the founding partner of Vintage Wine Estates.
The partnership in 55 Degrees was dissolved and Emmanuel moved back to California and began thinking about starting his own brand. Roney offered to produce the wines at one of the wineries he owned. The first vintage of Dokdo was produced at Girard Winery with Roney helped securing the grapes.
Select Wines
The 2022 Dokdo Winery 40240 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of approximately 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot with the balance being Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. All the grapes in this bottling are from Coombsville, a cooler sub appellation within Napa Valley. This wine is deep ruby with an almost impenetrable color; ripe and layered, the bouquet offers aromas of blackberry compote, dark cherry, Santa Rosa plum at the peak of its ripeness, blackberry, boysenberry and white sage. Its barrel aging has provided a diversity of attractive baking spices including a note of Biskoff cookie/cinnamon, cardamom and clove. And as it evolves, it opens an additional layer of mocha and dark cocoa powder. The sweetly fruited and ripe palate offers a union of red and darker fruited flavors including of raspberry, plums, cherry cola, boysenberry and blackberry. Lingers with a light note of dried tobacco leaf, a fully coating dusty character which outpaces the fruit on the finish, dried herbs including sage, cracked pink peppercorn and a lasting note of smoked cedar. Plush and plump across the palate, this wine sports pillowy textured tannins. Their well tumbled character fits comfortably into the finish like that of a perfectly aligned puzzle piece. And like their other vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon, this bottling was held for 1.5 years in bottle prior to its release. Drink now or hold for the next 10-15 years.
Shawn used to operate Napa Valley Port Works; after he passed he left 20 barrels of a port-styled dessert wine including barrels of both tawny and ruby wines. Unfortunately Emmanuel was not able to identify the variety – perhaps they are made from Zinfandel or Syrah. The wine was fortified with brandy from Mendocino County. Regardless, Emmanuel tasted through all 20 barrels and identified the best 4 barrels. He blended these and created a one time extremely special 500ml bottling. He recommends chilling this wine before serving.
The Dokdo Winery 799 805 Sweet Dessert Wine, is an aged tawny more than 20 years old. This wine is deep tawny in color; nosing this brings us immediatley back to wandering into the great Port houses along the banks of the Douro River in Portugal during our most recent trip to that country. This bouquet is richly layered, highly generous and immediatley open-knitted. Its scents include everything we love about an aged tawny with plenty of oxidative, nutty and tertiary aromas, IE., dried figs, raisins, dried plums, toasted walnuts, caramel, toffee, butterscotch, molasses, candied orange peel, plenty of pipe tobacco, a rancio character and burnt sugar. Rich but not overly intense, it is definitively sweet; this wine tastes like molasses, caramel, butterscotch, toffee, peanut brittle, coffee, dried figs, dried orange rind, dates, roasted marshmallow, cinnamon and marzipan. Its texture features a silk-like softness. A little bit of this aged beauty goes a very long ways. This is a wine you want to enjoy in front of a roaring fireplace in a cabin in the middle of a snow storm, cozied up with a significant other, picking out all its nuances, some subtle, some not so. There is plenty of talk about with this bottle.
The most recent vintages of their Cabernet Sauvignon are 100% varietal including from vineyards located in Rutherford and on Howell Mountain. Dokdo also produces two Chardonnays including a Napa Valley bottling and from the Sonoma side of Carneros, a Pinot Noir from the Russian River in neighboring Sonoma County and a Napa Valley Merlot. Total annual production is typically less than 400 cases among all their wines.
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Some of the proceeds from the sale of wine support the non-profit organization, Dokdo Heritage Foundation that Emmanuel founded with the purpose of educating those with Korean heritage living in the United States that the Dokdo islands belong to South Korea. And the foundation educates through Korean churches offering Korean language classes, in particular to Korean American communities in Virginia. In school textbooks in Virginia, any maps of Korea now show the office seal of Korea and instead of noting the water separated Japan and South Korea as the Sea of Japan, it is now listed as the Eastern Sea.
The wines are primarily sold direct to consumer via their website or through their support membership list. A select number of older vintages are also for sale. And in southern California, selected bottlings are available at Lincoln Fine Wines located in Venice. For more information and to purchase wine, visit: www.dokdowineshop.com
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