As Chinese Buy French Vineyards, Names Like Château Imperial Rabbit Rattle Purists

Bordeaux goes where the money is. And the money is now with the Chinese.

“It’s a good thing there are Chinese investors, most definitely. Because there are too many producers here, and there’s too much wine,’’ said Nan Hu, the director general of the Clos des Quatre Vents, the sumptuous property of a state-owned energy and real estate conglomerate from China. ‘‘So, we are important to Bordeaux.”

Indeed, not all French here are so put out.

One is Jean Pierre Amoreau, a celebrated maker of Bordeaux at Château Le Puy. Is he worried? “Not at all,” he said.

The Chinese were helping a lot of owners who, because of high French inheritance taxes, often can’t afford to pass their properties on to children, he argued.

‘‘The Chinese have a lot of liquidity, so they are helping these owners have a decent retirement,” he said. “And they are helping to preserve the chateaus.”

Jean-Marie Garde, a producer who heads the winemakers syndicate in the storied Pomerol district nearby, agreed, to a point.