Lafite is now the wine of choice for amongst China’s “newly rich” class.

That’s according to a recent report from Drinks Business (DB), which shows how the popularity of the wine has caused its value to soar over the past few years.

Indeed, the body says that in mid-2002 a case of Lafite would have carried a price tag of £2,500, but the price today now stands at £16,000 per case.

In China alone, increased branding has helped to drive sales of 2008 Lafite up by 20 per cent.

And it seems that the Chinese also like to purchase wines in which people from their country has had some input, as was the case when sales of Mouton Rothschild soared in the Far East nation after it was revealed that Chinese artist Xu Lei designed the wine’s distinctive label.

Earlier this year it was reported that the value of fine and rare wines being exported to China had topped $1.27 billion (£814 million).