(Forbes) - If you pay even casual attention to the wine world you’ll be aware that China has recently emerged as a major player – it's estimated consumption has been rising 15% annually – but most people, bemused by headlines of the fantastic auction prices big-name Bordeaux has fetched in Hong Kong, and amused by the often ludicrous attempts of counterfeiters to pass off Chateau Lafight and Chateau Lafete as the real thing, focus on China as a market for other country’s wines.

What’s not so widely appreciated is that it’s become one of the world’s major producers too, and some of it has been appearing on wine store shelves in the West. London’s posh Berry Bros. & Rudd features six Chinese wines, a sure mark of respectability, and Wine-Searcher.com shows dozens in the US.

But the recent arrival in America of Moet-Hennessy’s Ao Yun (Above The Clouds) 2013, a Bordeaux-style red, at $300 a pop, has upped the ante considerably and gives a whole new face to the Chinese wine business.