PARIS • The Chinese owner of four vineyards in the French winemaking region of Bordeaux has caused a stir by giving the historic chateaus new names with a distinctly Chinese flavour.

Chateau Senilhac, once the largest wine producer in the Medoc area of Bordeaux, had been in the Grassin family for eight decades when it was sold to Chinese entrepreneur Chi Tong earlier this year.

According to one employee, staff at the chateau were instructed from Hong Kong three months ago to rebrand the vineyard as Chateau Antilope Tibetaine, or Chateau Tibetan Antelope in English.

"I think the name is great. It's a little bit strange, but we sell so much wine to China, I think that's why they changed the name," said the employee, who spoke under condition of anonymity.

Three other vineyards in Bordeaux, all owned by Mr Chi, have undergone similar rebranding.

After three centuries without change, the signs around Chateau Larteau now read Chateau Lapin Imperial (Chateau Imperial Rabbit). Chateau La Tour Saint-Pierre, a vineyard in the Saint-Emilion area of Bordeaux, is changing its name to Chateau Lapin d'Or (Chateau Golden Rabbit).

And Chateau Clos Bel-Air, an estate in Pomerol that dates back to the late 1800s, will soon operate under the name Chateau Grande Antilope (Chateau Great Antelope).

Spurred on by a growing thirst for wine among an expanding middle class in China, investors from the country have snapped up more than 100 vineyards in France, with the majority in the Bordeaux area.

China imported more than 98 million litres of French wine from January to March this year, according to Customs figures, a 15.7 per cent rise on the same period last year.

And China has been the top export destination for wine from Bordeaux since 2011. Last year, the region sent 74 million bottles of wine to China, according to winemakers' association Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux.

Foreign ownership of French vineyards is nothing new; hundreds of wineries are owned by overseas investors, particularly from the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands.

However, the image overhaul at the four Chinese-owned vineyards has caused concern among some locals. Mr Jean-Marie Garde, chairman of the winemakers' union in Pomerol, told the local newspaper SudOuest that it would be bad for the region's image if "all the great chateaux were transformed into rabbits and antelopes".

CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK