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

According to a report published February 14 in French business magazine Challenges.fr, 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 has been going aggressively after the Chinese market in recent years, having acquired a Chinese spirits brand from the Sichuan area of China five years ago. Last year, Mo?t-Hennessy also began production of a premium sparkling wine in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The explosive growth of middle and upper classes in Chinese society has been attracting major wine brands around the world.

Les Domaines Barons de Rothschild also developed 25 hectares of vineyards in the province of Shandong in 2008, with the goal of producing 240,000 bottles of premium wine which will be aged until 2014, reports Challenges.fr.