Chinese buy up French wines in new year spree

Published on Monday 22 February 2010 20:18

CHINESE buyers snapped up cases of leading French wines from Chateau Lafite and Chateau Mouton Rothschild in the run-up to Chinese new year, according to data released yesterday.

Strong demand from the Far East sent the Liv-ex 100 fine wine index up 2.7 per cent last month, while the Claret Chip index rose by 3.3 per cent, according to the Wine Investment Fund.

The fund expects wine indices to grow by 18 per cent this year, stoked by demand from the rising middle-class in China. Sotheby's sold all of the 840 lots at its Hong Kong auction to hit a record-breaking $6.8 million (4.4m) in a day, the fund said.

The wine market in the United States also showed some signs of recovery, the fund said, with a sell-out auction in Chicago.

Wine Investment Fund director Andrew della Casa said: "It is good news that the US market is recovering, but we suspect that, once the Chinese new year effect wears off, there could be better buying opportunities than were available in January when well-priced stock was quite scarce."