Bordeaux prices to rise up to 15pc(2)
"Parker's scores make us think that we are again looking at a great vintage, perhaps just a tiny bit less good than last year's," Mr Coumau said.
Yet however good the wine may be, most of the buyers will never actually taste it.
Their intention is to sell on at a healthy profit in a few years' time.
The investment is generally worthwhile.
The Live-Ex Claret Chip Index, which charts the price of Bordeaux's top first-growth wines, is up 31.93 per cent over the past year.
Moreover, analysts say there is little sign of an end to the trend so long as China's newly wealthy urban elite keeps buying the best that Bordeaux can offer.
Up to 80 per cent of Chateau Lafite Rothschild is now estimated to end up in the Far East, mainly China. Other chateaux, such as Latour, are also in high demand.
According to Gary Boom, managing director of the London-based Bordeaux Index, of 500 cases of Chateau Lafite Rothschild that he purchased recently, "400 went to the Far East and I'm keeping 100 back for people thinking of selling it to the Far East later".
China now represents Bordeaux's biggest export market, importing wine worth 415million euros last year out of a global total of 3.36 billion euros.
