China increase in white wine

There could be a growing demand for white wine in China after figures show that consumption has increased by 19 per cent in 2011.
Wine investors could fear that this will take demand away from red fine wines, which has led to soaring price rises.
Figures from Vinexpo and seen by The Drinks Business, show that by 2015 white wine consumption in China could grow by a further 70 per cent.
However, red wine still makes up 91 per cent of consumption in the country, suggesting that there is still a strong market for investors. Vinexpo also predicts that by 2015 China will have consumed over a billion bottles a year.
Interestingly, though, Dominique Heriard Dubreuil, chairman of Vinexpo and Remy Cointreau, told the news provider that Chinese people generally do not like to drink anything cold, a contradiction to their growing thirst for white wine.
Vinexpo also reported that the Chinese are the fifth biggest wine drinkers in the world, ahead of the UK, consuming 156 million cases in 2011.