Craig Watts views himself as the Christopher Columbus of wine.

"It's an adventure. I'm always looking for new areas to explore," says Watts.

Watts, owner of the Lockeford winery which bears his name hopes to start shipping his wine to China by September.

Last fall, a delegation of Chinese restaurant and hotel owners toured the Lodi wine region and liked what Watts was bottling. An export deal was struck soon after.

Watts has earned lots of awards in California for his wines, including top honors from the San Francisco Chronicle and Orange County Fair.

Not long ago, exporting to countries like China was strictly for the big boys.

But recently, smaller wineries are going after the Chinese market because of the demand for California wines.

Frank Gaylado helped broker the deal between Watts and businesses in China. "China is an emerging market. But it also is a huge market, so it is certainly one of the markets that has everybody’s attention. It certainly has ours," says Gaylado.

Last year, Watts began exporting his wines to Costa Rica.