(SacBee) -  Eyeing China’s burgeoning middle class, California wineries are exploring how they can better tap into what’s becoming a major potential market.

By the next decade, more than 75 percent of China’s urban consumers will be earning the equivalent of between $9,000 and $34,000 a year, according to a demographic survey by the consulting firm McKinsey and Co. Only 4 percent of China’s urban consumer population fell into the earning category in 2000.

The country is now the fifth largest importer of bottled wine in the world. In 2000, it ranked 51st, according to USDA data.

“The millennials in China are the market of the future,” said David DeBoer, vice president of international sales at Delicato Family Vineyards.

Delicato, headquartered in Napa, owns 14 wineries. The company has been exporting wine to China for a decade under such labels as Gnarly Head zinfandel from Lodi and Napa Valley’s Black Stallion Estate.

DeBoer did not say how many bottles he exports to China, but he said the country is a growing part of the business plan at Delicato.

The Chinese market poses some special challenges. For instance, the picture and writing on the wine label may be as important as what’s in the bottle, DeBoer said.

“Horse imagery has strong connotations in China,” DeBoer said. “You have to understand the market and what your image, your name or what numbers mean before you launch a brand or label.”

And then there are the French, who dominate the wine import market in China. Much of the wine sold in China historically has been used for large banquets and official events, said Fred Gale, research scientist with the USDA. And for those events, the Chinese prefer high-status French wines.