German winemakers are raising their glasses to a new deal between China and the European Union, which recognises the distinctive status of vintages from the northern regions of Europe in the Chinese market. 

Rheinhessen wine is the latest of the 100 regional products to be given protection under the Geographical Indication (GI) standard that identifies a product of which the quality, reputation or similar characteristics are related to its geographical origin.

It's a bilateral arrangement that will be extended next year to include a range of Chinese food and drink products seeking shelf space in the supermarkets of Europe.

German wine, which has traditionally enjoyed a place in the cheap and cheerful end of the European wine market, is seeking to reposition itself as a premium product for consumers around the world. Steffen Schindler of the German Wine Institute told CGTN the brand has suffered from low-quality copycats and there are hopes the new GI deal with China may offer the industry a window for brand reinvention.

"For our producers it's also very important, because often those wines that were imitations were of very low quality and obviously a lot cheaper and destroyed or did harm to the image of our wines," said Schindler.

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Christoph Thörle, of the Thörle vineyard in Rheinhessen, explained: "We are aiming for the highest quality of grapes – so a lot of work in the vineyards is obviously needed over the year to produce perfect grapes, because only out of perfect grapes can you make great wine."

China is now the biggest overseas market for Thörle, who hopes the GI deal may boost sales of the estimated one billion bottles of wine produced annually in Germany.