(ChinaDaily) - A brand-awareness campaign in China by California wine makers will meet the palates of local oenophiles next week when a bottle-bearing trade delegation from the state visits Beijing and other cities.

The Wine Institute, a San Francisco-based group that promotes California's wine industry, will host a "master class" to educate Chinese consumers about vintages produced in the state, part of an April 8-15 trade and investment trip led by Governor Jerry Brown.

"The Chinese mainland is now the fifth-largest export market for California wines and has been considered a very high-priority market for California vintners," said Linsey Gallagher, international marketing director for the Wine Institute.

US wine exports, 90 percent of which come from California, reached a record $1.43 billion in sales last year, a 2.6 percent increase from 2011. It was the third straight year of increases, according to the Wine Institute. On the Chinese mainland, 2012 sales of American wine totaled $74 million, up 18 percent from the previous year