Chateau Latour may be challenging fellow First Growth Chateau Lafite for a cut of the Asian market, after releasing part of its cellar for auction in Hong Kong last month.

The move has been seen as an attempt to capitalise on the booming Chinese thirst for first-rate Bordeaux, as supplies of China's beloved Lafite begin to dwindle, the Guardian reports.

Only last year, China became the world's biggest export market for Bordeaux wines, overtaking Germany and the UK.

At the Christie's auction in Hong Kong, one bottle of 1961 Chateau Latour was sold for three times its expected price, at £135,000.

"As the world's premium producers blaze a trail east, it is in Lafite's footsteps they tread," said Decanter editor Guy Woodward.

The comments come as winemakers have been steadily releasing their prices for the 2010 vintage, with Chateau Pontet Canet recently setting its price a controversial 39 per cent above those of last year.