France'oenology schools teach Chinese students terroir

"Eight years ago, one percent of our students were Chinese, today it's 10 percent and it's growing. If we wanted it to be, it could be 50 percent," said said Claire Dawson, spokesperson for INSEEC business school, which is working to attract Chinese students.

Chinese would-be wine professionals, be they sommeliers or traders, are attracted by the teaching on offer, she says, but also by the prospect of building a network of wine industry contacts in the Bordeaux region.

A similar trend can be found on the Chartrons quay in Bordeaux's historical wine district at Cafa Formations where half of the students are now Chinese.

Cafa's success is such that they have a school in Beijing, a partnership with another school in the northern city of Xian, and run on-the-road intensive training programs in 15 Chinese cities.

"This year we have begun training teachers in France, who will then become instructors for us in China," said Franck Chausse, head of studies at Cafa.