(WineSpectator) - Robert Yang is a Chinese wine success story—the self-made man who brought the chain wine shop to the world's most populous country.

For nearly 20 years, the former hotel manager rode China's wave of thirst for Western wine & spirits, by becoming a distributor, retailer, Internet impresario and direct importer. His company called 1919 (a Chinese word play for "I want wine. I want wine.") has grown from one store in Sichuan Province's capital Chengdu in 2005 to a network of 1,000 shops in 600 cities with annual sales expected to top $2 billion this year.

"Ten to 20 years ago, imported wine and liquor were luxury products in China," says Yang, 43, one evening at a cafe in Verona, where earlier this month he helped launch this year's Italian wines trade extravaganza, Vinitaly. "Now almost everybody can drink affordable wine."