BORDEAUX (France) - MUCH to the delight of French winemakers, China confirmed its passion for red wine within the first 24 hours of the opening of the world's largest wine exhibition here, Vinexpo.

Barely had the first visitors hit the stands when Hong Kong luxury goods company A&A International announced its acquisition of an historic wine estate near Bordeaux, Chateau Richelieu, a 17-hectare (0.07 sq m) property surrounded by 14 hectares of vines.

According to financial consultant Marc Sabate who brokered the deal, the goal is to control the brand in order to distribute the estate's 70,000-bottle production in China.

'I suspect it's a good idea distribution-wise,' said Mr Philippe Laqueche, General Manager of Yvon-Mau, the fifth largest Bordeaux wine merchant with an annual turnover of 100 million euros (S$205 million).

Yvon-Mau's exports to China currently total less than five million euros, but with three full-time employees in China, the company hopes to rake in big sales in the future.

A recent study pegged China to become the seventh largest nation of wine drinkers by 2012.

At the moment, the Chinese mainly drink their own wine, often cut with foreign imports and sold under a Chinese label. But the nascent middle class is changing the country's relationship with wine.

They are thirsty for red with a foreign label. But meeting that demand is a challenge. -- AFP