China emerges as major force in the world of wine

Cruse, who has been dealing with the Chinese market since 1995, said: "It is a tremendous evolution in the Chinese market and I still think that the best is yet to come with the potential of China for fine wines."

Fan Lina, a Chinese member of the Commanderie du Bontemps and a Bordeaux-based senior chateau mergers and acquisitions adviser, said: "The excellent performance of the Chinese team shows the world a fresh image of the younger generation in China, and this is undoubtedly a good illustration of how the rise of China's economy has impacted all other aspects associated with the country."

Fan added that the scale and potential of the Chinese market has made many leading winemakers place a strong focus on the highly promising market.

Wine, with a long-standing history in China, has been produced since the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD).Today, drinking wine, especially imported fine wine, is seen by some as a symbol of social status.

In 2020, around 1.24 billion liters of wine were consumed in China, making it the sixth-largest wine consumer worldwide, and the fifth-largest global wine importer, with its import value amounting to 1.6 billion euros ($1.88 billion), according to Statista, a German market and consumer data company.

Rodolphe Lameyse, CEO of Vinexposium, the world's leading wine and spirits events organizer, said the cultivation of young Chinese consumers has contributed to wine development in the country.

"We have witnessed through our different events in Asia that a new generation of young Chinese consumers has emerged and they are particularly eager to learn more about wine. The new generation is more open to the wine world," he said.

Lameyse said that the Chinese team's victory can be seen as "a very strong signal of the rise of talent, interest and competitiveness in China".