To many Western minds the Chinese wine lover is still a hazy figure. We have all heard the stories of Petrus served with Coca Cola (a practice which is still encountered but is gradually disappearing), the bottles of 1982 First Growths left on display on the mantle-piece above a roaring fire, the arriviste with seemingly endless money but little in the way of discernment. The 2010 Bordeaux futures campaign, although regarded as something of a farce, was at least partially rescued by buyers from China and Hong Kong.
It is true that the Chinese are obsessed by red Bordeaux generally and Lafite in particular. They generally show almost no interest in white wine and New World wine simply doesn’t hold the cachet the young Chinese buyer is looking for.
The next logical step for an investor looking to broaden the horizons of the Chinese would be Burgundy, as yet however it is still the Bordeaux estates driving the Chinese wine bubble.