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　　在对名牌包、意大利服装和跑车的需求出现爆炸性增长后，昂贵的法国和意大利葡萄酒即将成为富有的中国消费者下一件必备之物。

　　在中国的金融中心上海，红酒酒吧的数量增长很快。这里的年轻专业人士下班后聚会，往往不惜花一千元人民币左右(152美元)点一瓶葡萄酒。

　　以东南亚、香港和中国内地为市场的刊物《葡萄酒评论》的出版人、葡萄酒专栏作家庄布忠称：“中国人充满生活梦想且物质主义，他们一旦购买了本地最好品牌的东西，他们就会开始寻找品质更好、价格更昂贵的东西。”

　　业内专家说，尽管中国国内的葡萄酒市场不断发展壮大，但是喝外国产的葡萄酒更时髦。他们预计外国葡萄酒的消费量在今后五年内将翻一番。受青睐的酒包括法国拉菲酒庄和拉图酒庄的葡萄酒。

　　庄布忠称：“在中国，喝葡萄酒至少存在两个层次。如果一个人点酒，并在斟酒的时候表示非常感谢某人帮了忙的话，那么其中就存在交际因素，也就是说他会点昂贵的葡萄酒。如果同样一个人是与亲朋好友一起喝酒，那么他所点的葡萄酒就没有附加身份因素。”

　　葡萄酒的狂热爱好者说，中国大陆的葡萄酒消费量在过去10年实现了两位数的增长，促使葡萄酒制造商对瞄准利润丰厚的中国市场产生了强烈的动力，中国市场的需求在未来几年将超过西方国家的需求。

　　在诸如上海和北京这样的大都市里也存在着将葡萄酒作为投资品的阶层。上海罗斯福酒店的Tin Tse称，部分富有的中国人正开始越来越多地收藏昂贵的葡萄酒。

　　China's nouveau riche thirsty for premium vino

　　Following the explosion in demand for designer bags, Italian suits and fast cars, expensive French and Italian wines are set to be the next must-have accessory for the wealthy Chinese consumer。

　　Wine bars are proliferating rapidly in Shanghai, the country's glitzy financial capital, where young Chinese professionals congregate after work and regularly splurge around 1,000 yuan ($152) on a bottle of wine。

　　"Chinese people are very aspirational and materialistic so once they have bought the best local brand then they start looking for something even better and more expensive," said Ch'ng Poh Tiong, wine columnist and publisher of The Wine Review publication, based in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and China。

　　While China has a growing domestic wine market, industry experts say it is more fashionable to drink wine made abroad and predict consumption will double within the next five years。

　　Favorites include wines from French estates Chateau Lafite Rothschild, which starts around $1,000 a bottle, and Chateau Latour。

　　"There are at least two layers of wine appreciation in China. If the person is buying and serving the wine to say thank you very much for someone who has done them a favor, then there is a social going rate which means they will pull out the expensive wine," said Ch'ng。

　　"Then you have the same person drinking with friends and family and there is no more status attached to the bottle of wine."

　　Wine aficionados say that wine consumption in the mainland has grown in double digit figures over the last 10 years, triggering strong incentives for winemakers and companies to target the lucrative Chinese market, set to strongly outpace Western demand in the coming years。

　　"AUSPICIOUS" WINE

　　Chateau Lafite Rothschild has incorporated the Chinese character of the number eight on its vintage 2008 bottles, set to ship in 2011.

　　The winemaker has not only used the auspicious number "eight" but also the color red, considered lucky by Chinese custom, to help boost sales。

　　Chateau Mouton Rothschild has used a design by Chinese artist Xu Lei for its 2008 vintage bottle。

　　In cosmopolitan cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, there is also robust appetite for wine as an investment class。

　　Tim Tse, of the House of Roosevelt, a private wine cellar and vault in Shanghai, said a select proportion of wealthy Chinese were increasingly starting to collect expensive wine。

　　"People in Shanghai don't only drink the wine but they are making an investment in wine. People appreciate wine far more than before. It seems like they have been studying and doing tours in the Burgundy area," said Tse, President of Roosevelt China Investments Corp。

　　Despite this, experts note that many people are drinking expensive wine simply because it is expensive, rather than appreciating the taste。

　　Vivian Tian, Chief Sommelier at the Waldorf Astoria in Shanghai, said the majority of Chinese consumers were still far behind their western counterparts in understanding and appreciating wine。

　　"The Chinese population is huge, we are still in a developing phase. They are not sophisticated. I don't know how many years China will need," she said。

　　For the majority of young Chinese professionals, kitted out with their iPads and designer suits, wine is just the latest way to display upward mobility in the increasingly consumer driven society。

　　"The key in Shanghai is, it is fashionable to drink wine. Every year the growth rate should be double digit, there is no question about that," Tse said。

　　(路透)

　　(解雨)