The symbol, which is considered especially lucky in China, will be on every bottle and magnum of Lafite 2008. 

A spokesperson for Lafite owner Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) said she did not know what impact the move might have on the value of Lafite 2008 in China.

‘The shape of the symbol seems to offer a perfect representation of the slopes of the vineyard and commemorates the launch of our Chinese wine project,’ the spokesperson added.

‘We wanted to remind all those who will have the pleasure of drinking these wines in a few years of this exciting undertaking.’

Lafite is in partnership with CITIC, China’s largest state-owned investment company, to develop 25ha of vines on the Penglai peninsula in China’s Shandong province.

Some commentators have described the peninsula, about 800km north of Shanghai, as ‘China’s Bordeaux’.

Meanwhile, speculation that Château Mouton-Rothschild might choose a Chinese artist to design the label for its 2008 vintage sent the wine’s value soaring in late 2009.

Mouton is due to unveil its new label for 2008 at the end of this year.

The figure eight is considered so auspicious in Chinese culture that huge sums of money are paid for telephone numbers made up only of the number, while the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics began precisely at eight minutes and eight seconds past 8pm, on 8 August 2008. www.decanter.com