PENGLAI, China — In China, the stories about Château Lafite Rothschild are as notorious as the Bordeaux wine estate is legendary.

There are the tales — often repeated, never confirmed — of wealthy Chinese businessmen chugging Lafite mixed with Sprite. Or the time a Chinese official reportedly said at least half the Lafite sold in China was fake. More recent was a government crackdown on corruption that turned up huge stashes of the wine, worth tens of thousands of dollars, in the hands of local officials.

But the latest chapter in the saga of Lafite is something quite different: The company behind the famous name, Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) , is now the producer of a world-class wine made entirely in China.

Image Long Dai’s first vintage was released last month. Credit... Giulia Marchi for The New York Times

Last month, Lafite released its first vintage from grapes grown at Domaine de Long Dai, its estate in Shandong Province. The centuries-old French winery is betting that it can ride out China’s economic slowdown and turn nationalistic headwinds to its advantage with a locally made product.