Grape haul of China on the rise

Nation has become world's fifth-largest wine market

BORDEAUX, France - With a middle-class increasingly thirsty for reds, whites and Italian bubbly, China is the hot ticket for wine traders looking for opportunities at this year's Vinexpo industry extravaganza.

The world's most populous nation has for years been seen as an El Dorado for foreign winemakers - but those hoping to cash in need to keep up with continuing rapid transformations in the market, including the rise of online sales, say analysts at the four-day global wine gathering in Bordeaux.