China¡¯s increasing interest in fine wine

China is now the world's fifth-largest wine consumer, followed by traditional wine-producing countries, such as France, Italy, the US and Germany. Britain ranks seventh, with an annual 19 litres per capita. Despite strong growth over the past few years, Hong Kong only consumes 3.7 litres per capita, a figure that makes wine sellers flock to Asia in search of growth.

Asia's increasing interest in wine is "exponential", says Stephen Wickens, a Hong Kong-based wine merchant, who recently sold 12 bottles of 1982 P¨¦trus wine for ¡ê50,000 to an Asian businessman. P¨¦trus, near Saint-¨¦milion, only produces about 30,000 bottles a year. "It is sublime, it has an additional layer, it has to do with the richness, the power and the elegance," Wickens says. As much as an investment, Asian consumers "want to share it".

There is also an element of "show-off" buyers, keen to impress clients or bosses. Some of France's most prestigious names are giving their labels a gilded look, a symbol of status in Asia, a wine merchant says.

Names such as 1982 P¨¦trus, or Chateau Lafite Rothschild, are regular at auctions held by Sotheby's, which started in Hong Kong last year. Since then, each auction has been a "white glove" sale ¨C 100% sold, by value and by lot, the company says. Asian collectors are now the most important buyers at Sotheby's wine sales worldwide, representing 57% of the total, compared with 20% in Europe and another 20% in North America, the auction house says.

In 2008, the Chinese government eliminated all wine duties in Hong Kong, spurring demand. The city is now aiming to become a wine hub, competing with London and New York.

The appetite for high-quality wine is also increasing in developed markets, Sotheby's says. All but one of the 18 wine sales held at Sotheby's in 2009 surpassed the company's estimate. In London, sales reached ¡ê9.3m in 2009, a 100% increase over the past five years.

Wine boutique hotels, tour companies and educational centres are flourishing around the world. In Spain, the Rioja region hosts five-star design hotels such as Marqu¨¦s del Riscal, which charges about €288 a night. Local communities have designed cycling routes and walking tours connecting wineries, re-inventing themselves as upmarket hubs, a radical change from their previous agricultural focus.

Behind the returns, the business and the hype, wine cognoscenti such as Jim¨¦nez say the best cellar is one full of empty bottles bearing the names of people one has shared them with.