China become the biggest market for premium Australian wine

China has become the biggest market for Australian wine priced at more than A$10 ($9.95) a liter, a remarkable shift as Chinese tastes for imported wines grow. China imported more than $1 billion worth of wine last year, up 61 percent from the year before.

Chinese imports in the A$10-plus range almost equalled those of the U.S. and UK markets combined, according to data from government agency Wine Australia, selling in restaurants, hotels and gourmet supermarkets.

Australia's bottled exports to China grew 32 percent to A$190 million in 2010, while exports to the United States fell 20 percent and to the UK slumped 33 percent, hurt by a robust Australian dollar.