(StarTribune) - David Liu made his first fortune more than two decades ago, exporting American scrap metal to his rapidly industrializing home country of China. After the financial crisis, he scored big again, buying distressed apartments in the U.S. and selling them later for a tidy profit.

Liu is now convinced he's spotted his next major haul, with the help of Chinese investors. The millionaire developer is betting that the oft-dismissed wine region of Temecula is poised to break out as a far bigger destination for oenophiles and tourists given its proximity to Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego.

"Napa Valley is bigger, but it's too far away," said Liu, 57, a former statistics professor turned real estate developer, and the quality of the Temecula wine is getting better.

Liu, an American citizen who splits his time between China and the U.S., purchased 700 acres of barren Riverside County land that had previously been destined for tract homes.