French Wine in China 法国酒在中国

Last year it was a Chinese business group that bought up 收购 Chateau¹ la Tour le Grande, a leading Bordeaux vintage 佳酿/美酒。

Now the interest is in the other direction, but Domaines Barons² de Rothschild, the company which owns the elite³ 优秀的 Chateau Lafite premier⁴ cru, has invested in 投资 land near Penglai in the Shandon peninsula, an area with climatic conditions 气候条件 similar to those in Bordeaux.

Over the years it hopes to develop a world-class 顶级/世界级 top-quality Chinese wine. Christophe Salin is a director at the Domaines Barons de Rothschild:

"I think we have isolated⁵ a very nice part in the region of Penglai where we can first of all plant a small vineyard 葡萄园, twenty-five hectares 公顷, where we think we can achieve a great wine. But I mean we will be judged by generations."

The reason behind the move is simple. As a nation, China is now among the world's leading consumers 消费者 of wine. By 2011 it's reckoned that the Chinese will be drinking more than one billion bottles a year.

The vast 巨大的 majority of what they consume is home-grown 国产, but they have a weakness for the great French vintages.

For Chateau Lafite it's an obvious business opportunity 商业机会: to be a great French name in China.