More Videos
- Unemployment to Peak at 10.5%: Moody's Economist
- 8 Stocks to Gain on Obama's Afghan Plan: Analysts
- BofA On Proposed Changes In The Housing Bailout Program
- The Future of The Media Landscape
- November Auto Sales Muddle Along
- Busch: What Obama Won't Say Tonight
- Stick with Equities—Avoid Emerging Markets: Laszlo Birinyi
- Pfizer Chomps On A Carrot
- Predictions 2010: Technology
- GM Removes CEO Henderson; Whitacre is Interim Chief
- Who Were the Biggest Winners And Losers This Year?
- Look Ahead: Markets Count Down to US Jobs Report
- GE, Comcast Complete Deal Over NBC Universal: Source
- US May Raise Rates Before Jobs Recover: Fed's Plosser
- Cramer: Watch Tech Stocks Wednesday
- Stocks Likely Don't Need Santa to Keep Rally Going
- Super Fantasy Christmas Gifts of 2009
- Larry Kudlow's Open Letter to Tiger Woods
MOST SHARED
- GE, Comcast Complete Deal Over NBC Universal: Source
- Keeping America Great
- New Incentive To Improve... Your Home, That Is!
- Japan Business Mood at One-Year High: Reuters Tankan
- Lightning Round OT: Incyte, Randgold Resources and More
- Look Ahead: Markets Count Down to US Jobs Report
- Australia Parliament Rejects Carbon Trade Laws
- Predictions 2010: Technology
Text Size 
 |
Source: winechina.com Dragon Seal Wine |
I visited the ninth biggest winery today, in the northwest corner of Beijing. Amid the wide roadways, the construction sites and scores of people who simply have no fear of moving vehicles sits the Dragon Seal winery.
Like the dozens of purveyors of luxury and Western goods, Dragon Seal and other winemakers are tapping into the burgeoning middle class and all its disposable income. Wine is not a typical Chinese person's beverage of choice. But for those who like status, a Western lifestyle and the trappings of wealth, wine is top shelf.
There are a handful of mega winemakers. Great Wall for instance, is an olympic sponsor and is the biggest producer. Changyu is another producer and even has a French chateau (chateaux, apparently, are all the rage in China. Dragon Seal's is due to be completed next year, just 60 km outside Beijing).
Interestingly, even wine here can't escape counterfeiters. Great Will and Grate Wall are among the knockoffs that sell on store shelves. And caveat drinker: just because it's called "Chinese wine" doesn't mean the grapes were grown in China. Apparently, Chilean grapes are often blended into Chinese grapes, and the label: Chinese wine.
Wine is still a small market in China. But like so many other things here, its potential is enormous.
Questions? Comments?
- Will the Fed raise rates? Will the dollar continue its slide? CNBC experts weigh in on the year ahead.
- Goldman Sachs has forbidden employees from gathering in private holiday parties of 12 or more.
- Do you have what it takes to run your own business? Ask yourself these questions.
- Heavily armed pirates in Somalia have set up a sort of stock exhange to fund their hijackings.
- Since its launch in 1998, Google has become a primary force on the Internet. How much do you know about the company?
- A famed author has written all his work on an old typewriter that is now up for auction. The NYT reports.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes