In a region with 8,000 wine properties, it's hardly fair to say that you could stick a pin in a map of Bordeaux and find a Chinese owner. But you would find someone who knows of an offer, an inquiry, a rumour or a visit. To date, since the first Chinese acquisition - of Chateau Latour Laguens in 2008 - there have been 30 completed sales, with an estimated 20 further purchases close to completion.
One Chinese owner in the hilly, green corner of the region's Entre Deux Mers appellation is Zhang Jinshan. If he were to travel south from Chateau Grand Moueys, near the small village of Capian, he would soon arrive at the door of his nearest neighbour at Chateau de Grand Branet, which sits on the crest of the next hill, almost visible from the turret of his 18th century property. There, he would be greeted not by a local French vigneron, but by fellow Chinese businessman Qu Naijie, owner of five chateaux.
Zhang shrugs at the improbability of his nearest neighbour being a fellow Putonghua speaker. While he made his fortune in Gougi, a fruit-based alcohol from goji berries that forms the backbone of his Ningxiahong organisation in northwest China, Qu's came from building up the Haichang Group into one of China's largest companies, with interests in shipping, property and theme parks.
'I know him a little,' Zhang says of Qu. 'Perhaps it shows what a good choice we have both made in location. But many Chinese dream of owning a chateau in Bordeaux.'
Zhang bought the estate in February. Within eight kilometres of this spot, Zhang and Qu could meet up with three other Chinese proprietors: Hong Kong investor Steve Loo Chung-keung at Chateau Lagarosse in Tabanac, the Dashang Group-owned Chateau Lezongars in Villenave-de-Rions, and Meng Gao at Chateau Bertranon in Sainte-Croix-du-Mont.
It fits with the open spirit of Zhang's ambition that his arrival was marked by a press conference and contract signing ceremony - something that has happened with only one other Chinese purchase, that of Chateau de Viaud by state-backed China Oil & Foodstuffs Corporation (Cofco).
The company also held a press conference in February, when it announced that the main motivation in buying Viaud was to control the supply chain.