A bottle of French wine dating back to 1774 and dubbed “the wine of kings and the king of wines” fetched $49,200 at auction in Geneva on Tuesday.

While China is drinking more and more wine each year it appears also that consumers are drinking more and more of the same type of wine.

According to a recent survey produced to help promote May’s Vinexpo Asia-Pacific event — the largest wine industry gathering in the region — 99.5 percent of wine drunk in China is still wine, and 91 percent of the still wine drunk is red wine.

Champagne maker Moët-Hennessy has invested in a vineyard in the mountains of China that will produce red wine for the domestic Chinese market.

Luxury brand LVMH has signed an agreement with a major alcohol, wine and spirits distributor in China, VATS, to develop 30 hectares of vineyards at an altitude of 2,400 m in the mountains of Yunnan, in southwestern China.

The luxury Champagne brand had previously acquired a Chinese spirits brand from the Sichuan area of China five years ago. Last year, Moët-Hennessy also began production of a premium sparkling wine in the province of Ningxia Hui.

World consumption of wine increased slightly in 2011 thanks to added consumers in the U.S. and China according to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine.

The organisation, an intergovernmental industry group, said 242 million hectolitres (mhl) of wine were drunk last year, up 0.7 percent from 2010.

The world’s largest producer of alcohol from goji berries and an elusive tycoon have become the latest super rich Chinese investors to invest in Bordeaux wine estates.

Already a prized investment for the increasingly wine-savvy Chinese, five more chateaux in the heart of France’s most renowned wine country have been snapped up in the past few weeks.

Zhang Jinshan, 48, founder of the Ningxia Hong group based in northwestern China, bought Chateau du Grand Moueys from its German owner on Friday.

Qantas has kept its reputation sky high in the annual competition to determine the best wines served aboard the world’s airlines.

The Cellars in the Sky Awards, organized by Business Traveller Magazine UK, were announced at the Grosvenor Hotel in London on Monday, with Qantas triumphing in no fewer than six categories. Delta, Jetstar, LAN, Qatar Airways, TAM, Emirates, Air France and Cathay Pacific also won awards.

Some 250 wines were entered by a total of 32 carriers, with the awards recognizing excellence in wines served in business and first class.