In a sign that the wine-drinking culture is becoming increasingly mainstream in China, a growing demand for cheaper wines is beginning to emerge from the ranks of the burgeoning middle class.

That's the conclusion drawn from the latest figures of a Wine Intelligence report out of the UK, which found that the majority of wine drinkers - 69 percent - surveyed in China in the first quarter of 2013 said they spend less than €25 (200 yuan) on a bottle of imported wine to drink on casual occasions, Chinese media reported.

In China, bottles priced at €25 and lower are considered entry-level or average wines.

Maria Troein of Wine Intelligence said, "There is a growing trend of drinking wine for pleasure rather than buying it primarily as a gift or serving it at banquets as a status symbol ... [and] in more casual drinking, there's also a higher demand for wine at more affordable price points."

Figures out of the largest wine trade fair in the industry, Vinexpo, meanwhile, show that though China is still the world's fastest-growing wine-consuming market in the world, growth is slowing.

After experiencing a meteoric spike in consumption at 142 percent between 2007 to 2011, that explosive growth is expected to slow to 40 percent between 2012 to 2016.