Red Obsession

"When the dragon awakes she will shake the world" - (Napoleon Bonaparte). The dragon that is modern china has awoken from its slumber, and what it is thirsty for is wine. Lots of it... For centuries, Bordeaux has commanded an almost mythical status in the world of wine as a symbol of wealth, power and influence - but its prosperity has always been linked to the capricious nature of markets and the shifting fortunes of global economies. Now Bordeaux is courting China, its most lucrative customer ever. Traditional customers like the US and the UK are falling away as China's new rich push prices to stratospheric levels. The product is finite and this new client wants it all. But China's insatiable appetite for rare wine, its own ambitions as a wine producer and its counterfeiting of Bordeaux wines on an unprecedented scale, all threaten to permanently damage Bordeaux's reputation. Bordeaux must weigh up the risks of turning its back on traditional markets and the challenges to its integrity as it follows the seductive promise of this new "silk road". Narrated by Russell Crowe, this fascinating documentary explores the global power shift from the West to the East through the most coveted wines on the planet... a phenomenon that has seen red wine become more valuable than gold. (Roadshow Entertainment)