The fine wine auction boom in Asia has hit a new high after two Sotheby’s sales at the weekend raised more than HK$100m (US$13m).
The two auctions – including the cellar of collector Marcus D Hiles and the sixth instalment of the cellar of an unnamed ‘Great American collector’ – sold out in their entirety.
That means that nine consecutive Sotheby’s Hong Kong fine wine auctions have been 100% sold in the last 18 months, with the vast majority of items in the last two sales exceeding their high estimates.
‘Prices during the last two days of sales were exceptionally buoyant, linked to the stupendous quality and condition of these two great private collections,’ said Serena Sutcliffe MW, Sotheby’s worldwide head of wine.
‘Pétrus today was on fire! All the First Growths, in all vintages, fetched astonishing prices, with the saleroom and the telephones going into battle for the amazing large formats.’
The sixth part of The Classic Cellar from A Great American Collector raised HK$57.3m, taking the cumulative total fetched by the collection to HK$266m.
Pétrus led the charge at the weekend sale, accounting for the eight most expensive lots, led by three double magnums of 1989 at HK$726,000, nearly double their high estimate.
Top-end Burgundy led the highlights from the Hiles cellar, with a case of 2005 Romanée-Conti 2005 fetching the highest price of HK$1.8m, 50% above its high estimate.
Other DRC wines, including older vintages of Romanée-Conti and La Tâche 1999 and 2005, made up the remainder of the top ten.
Next on the Sotheby’s Hong Kong calendar is a sale of Lafite vintages from 1869 to 2009 direct from the château on 29 October, followed by another Bordeaux sale from SK Networks on 30 October.
Written by Richard Woodard
