China become Castel's biggest wine destination

China has dethroned the UK to become the premier export market by volume for French wine giant Castel. 

Castel exported almost 14m bottles to China in 2009, compared to 5.6m in 2008. It forecasts volumes will reach close to 20m bottles in 2010.

"We experienced an exceptionally strong decline in our exports to the UK, volumes falling from 14m to 10m bottles, largely due to the weakness of sterling against the euro, the increase in duties on alcohol and the general economic downturn," Castel told just-drinks yesterday (4 February).

"We expect to recover some of the markets we lost last year in UK in 2010, but China is perhaps set to stretch its lead," he said, declining to give value figures for exports.

Castel vins de pays wines, particularly from the Languedoc region, have proved a hit with Chinese consumers seeking "quality at an affordable price", said the firm.

Castel has built a network of ten distribution agents to gain national coverage across 1,500 outlets in China.