French wine exports made strong gains last year in what the country's experts hailed yesterday as victory of Gallic sophistication.

French wine sales abroad rose by 7.7 per cent in 2007 to reach ?6.75 billion (¡¨o5 billion), after three years of crisis in which thousands of hectares were grubbed up.

The gains were in large part down to higher demand from Britain, Germany and America. Exports to this country grew by four per cent in volume and more than seven per cent in value.

Bordeaux, C?tes du Rh?ne  and Champagne registered the biggest rises in volume, said UbiFrance, the French government export agency which published the figures.

However, Beaujolais and the southern Languedoc and Roussillon regions lost ground.

Herv¨| Henrotte, a wine specialist at the agency, said that many drinkers who were first attracted to the simple grape varieties found in New World wines were ready to move to branch out into more sophisticated fare.

Exports to Asia have also been snowballing. Volumes are small but rising fast in areas such as China and Singapore.

The latest evidence of China's fascination for French wine was the purchase by Chinese buyers of a Bordeaux chateau last month.