"Shanghai accounts for 50 percent of our volume and is much further along in terms of development than other major Chinese cities," says Alberto Fernandez, general manager of Torres China, a wine importer and distributor that moved more than 1 million bottles in 2007, "not only in the number of fine dining outlets, five-star hotels, and retail outlets, but especially in terms of consumer habits, expenditure, and sophistication."

In 2006, Poznyakov and his wife, Galina Kotova, moved to Shanghai from Moscow and opened Globus Wine, a wine shop and import company in the fashionable Shanghai area known as the French Concession. They began stocking certified organic wines, grower-producer champagnes, and smaller boutique brands, all of which are still new to the Shanghai market.

"It seemed to be quite an international place that was very lacking in diverse and quality wines," Poznyakov says. "Living through a similar situation in Moscow several years back, we thought that Shanghai might be ready for a qualitative step up."

In December, ASC Fine Wines, the leading importer to China of brands like Château Lafite Rothschild and Bollinger, opened the Wine Residence, a clubhouse for wine professionals and wine lovers. The Residence is housed in a turn-of-the-century, brick-and-stone mansion situated in an alley behind the JW Marriott Hotel at Tomorrow Square and next to humble houses with laundry fluttering on the balconies.

Its deep basement, once used as a bomb shelter, is now filled with climate-controlled cellars where members can store their collections. There are private rooms for entertaining, a restaurant that serves continental cuisine with Asian and German influences, and a showroom dedicated to Riedel glassware.

Serious wine-education programs have also arrived—to meet consumer interest and take wine literacy up a notch. The London-based Wine & Spirits Education Trust offers certificate programs at several locations, including a customized classroom in the new Wine Residence with the first-ever course taught in Mandarin.

As consumers become more knowledgeable, white-wine-only dinners won’t be the only Shanghai innovation. Says Poznyakov, "Food and beverage managers are starting to look out for things that the place next door does not have."