Chinese demand for fine Bordeaux wine is now such that the country has been flooded with counterfeit bottles.

According to Agence-France-Presse (AFP), although the average wine consumption rate in China is currently just one litre per person each year, it is expected that the country will become the world's sixth-largest wine consumer by 2014.

To the newly-affluent Chinese middle classes, an interest in fine wine and possession of them indicates that a person has social status.

The idea of wine as a status symbol naturally drives interest in the big Bordeaux labels, such as Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Latour and other first growths - all of which have sold strongly in China in the last few years.

However, with the popularity of fine wine has come an increase in counterfeiting, highlighting the need to use reputable dealers when making rare wine purchases.

Romain Vandevoorde, head of wine importer Le Baron, told AFP that counterfeiters will copy top wines and cheaper varieties alike.

"There is more Chateau Lafite 1982 in China than was produced in France. So you really have to be wary if you find any of that in China," he said.

This particular vintage can attract a price tag of as much as 50,000 Yuan (£4,830) per bottle, making it very profitable for the fakers.

However, wine tasting expert Wen An says that as the Chinese become more knowledgeable, the counterfeiters will have less of a market to work in.

"When the Chinese will be able to distinguish between good and bad wine, they will no longer choose counterfeit products," she explained.

The fight against counterfeiters is also now taking place at the bottling stage.

Charles Pillitteri, proprietor of Canadian producer Pillitteri Estates Winery, has developed a unique bottle seal using bubble patterns that cannot be copied or recreated once the seal is broken.

Demonstrated at the recent Vinexpo event in Bordeaux, the system gas attracted a large amount of interest from the region's top estates.