In-Flight Wine Club – United States

Korean Air

Period
2024
Format
Documentary Series
Location
California

Overview

The final episode of Korean Air's In-Flight Wine Club documentary series, following Marc Almert as he travels to California's Napa and Sonoma Valleys to uncover the essence of American wine, where innovation and tradition coexist.

Thematic

Culture-driven premium branding

What We Did

Documentary planning, global production, post-production

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Context

Since the 1976 Judgment of Paris brought global recognition to American wine, Napa Valley has become a symbol of bold innovation, while Sonoma Valley has carved its own path with a more modest yet distinctive approach. This episode was designed to explore the cultural significance and brand value of the American wine industry through these two emblematic regions.

Challenge

A key challenge was shaping the final episode to reflect Marc Almert’s global journey without feeling repetitive, while providing a sense of closure. Napa and Sonoma presented distinct winemaking attitudes which the team had to differentiate in storytelling without losing cohesion. Highlighting those contrasts and tying them together under a shared narrative required careful structural planning and close collaboration across editorial, creative, and post teams.

Solution

The team adopted a retrospective structure for the entire series, following Marc Almert's complete journey across three continents. Contrasting narratives were built around challenge and innovation in Napa Valley and creativity in rusticity in Sonoma Valley, while allowing both regions to converge on a common identity as the land of dreams. This approach created thematic coherence that connected the American episode to the broader series narrative while providing emotional closure to Marc's global wine exploration.

From the Team

“Despite the pressure of making the final installment of the series, the passionate stories of the winemakers we met in Napa and Sonoma naturally coalesced around one keyword: dreams. As we captured Marc's final journey, we could really feel our own love for the series.”
Diane Yoo
Diane YooProducer

Credit

  • DirectorYoonseop Kim
  • Executive ProducerMinseok Kim
  • ProducerDiane Yoo
  • Assistant DirectorShiheon Lee
  • WriterNari Lee
  • CinematographerAndy Choi