China's growing passion for Bordeaux is creating problems for chefs and sommeliers looking to match the wine to the region's diverse cuisine, it is claimed.

Mainland China is a "blank slate" when it comes to pairing food and wine, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reveals, while Western nations have had decades, even centuries, to perfect their combinations.

However, the news agency claims that a rulebook is starting to emerge, with the help of more experienced wine drinkers in Hong Kong.

Champagne's acidity pairs with dim sum, while Burgundy's tannins match crispy chicken and lotus root chips. Meanwhile, aged Bordeaux can enhance the texture of fatty meats such as belly pork.

"These pairings bring out a richer, more persistent flavour in both the wine and food," chef Leung Fai Hung of Kowloon's InterContinental Grand Stanford told AFP.

China undoubtedly has developed a taste for fine Bordeaux. Suggestions that a Chinese artist may be used to design the label for 2008 Chateau Mouton Rothschild recently saw the value of the wine increase sharply, the Drinks Business noted this week.