When the Chinese wine market first started taking off in earnest a few years ago, there were reports of consumers who mixed classed-growth claret with Sprite or Coca Cola. I’ve never been able to verify just how widespread that practice was, but things have moved on since then – thank goodness.
A few dozen Bordeaux properties are already under Chinese ownership and more deals are in the making. China has surpassed both the USA and Japan to become the largest export market for Bordeaux outside the EU.
When outsiders buy famous wine properties, lamentations follow. In 1987 the AXA insurance group bought Chateau Pichon Longueville, and some of the protests made you think that KFC had just opened a branch in the middle of Stonehenge.
But AXA invested lots of money, the wines improved, and the company went on to buy several other Bordeaux estates – always with good results. And I assume that the Chinese investors will be similarly enlightened.
