Vineyard owners are hoping that China will become the next top wine producer

(SCMP) - At Wu Feng's private vineyard on the peninsula of Penglai in Shandong province, the grapes harvested last autumn have been pressed into wine and poured into oak barrels for fermentation and ageing. In the spring he'll start pruning and grafting new vines.

Since Wu's winery produced its first bottle of cabernet franc, a Chateau Reifeng-Auzias, in 2007, the businessman says his wine's quality is improving each year. But he has yet to convince many domestic consumers to choose his wine rather than those imported from France or Australia.

"It's really difficult to promote our wines. But I never doubt this market will get bigger and better for us," says Wu, a 56-year-old entrepreneur who also runs a chemical company.

China is the youngest player in the world's emerging wine-production markets - and has quickly become the world's fifth-largest wine producer. Industry experts estimate the nation will have the most land devoted to wine production and bottle more wine than any other country in five years.

"It's just like the Australia and Chile markets 10 or 20 years ago," Wu says. "Perhaps Chinese wine can become a well-received world brand in three decades."

Producing top-quality wines in China and selling them worldwide has become a dream for a growing number of Chinese entrepreneurs. Over the past decade, individual investors, state-owned enterprises and even leading winemakers from Europe have flocked to the country, selecting sites, planting their own vineyards and making wine.

Last year, Chateau Lafite Rothschild in France, one of the world's premier wine estates and owner of one of the world's most expensive wine brands, finished planting a 25-hectare vineyard and opened a winery in Penglai. It is growing varietals including cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and syrah.