Chateau Lafite Rothschild has become a "sales phenomenon" among Chinese wine enthusiasts, it is claimed.

According to USA Today, Chateau Lafite Rothschild has been selling quickly in Hong Kong, with the impending Chinese New Year week of gift-giving set to push sales volumes even further.

Such is the estate's popularity with Chinese wine enthusiasts that it is now the benchmark for all other Bordeaux and Burgundy winemakers to seek to emulate, the publication notes.

However, it goes on to suggest that no-one is entirerly sure why Chateau Lafite Rothschild has been quite so popular, although there are theories.

"The Chinese character for Lafite is a nice-sounding word," says Richard Halstead, chief operating officer for Wine Intelligence Ltd, told the newspaper.

A study from International Wine and Spirit Research recently found that Chinese demand for Chateau Lafite Rothschild and other Bordeaux labels has been so intense that France has managed to reclaim its position as the number one wine-producing nation.