DRC superlot auction sets world record

A “superlot” of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti has become the most expensive wine auction lot ever, selling for over HK$12 million (£1m) in Hong Kong.

Part of Sotheby’s fine wine sale on 4 October, the superlot was comprised of 114 bottles of the sought-after Burgundian estate and spanned the 1992-2010 vintages.

The total for the collection was HK$12,556,250 (US$1.6m), HK$110,143 (US$14,000) per bottle or HK$13,768 per glass. The previous record was a 50 case collection of 1982 Mouton Rothschild which was sold by Sotheby’s in New York in 2006 for US$1.05m.

“The Romanee-Conti superlot presented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire an unprecedented quantity of the world’s most desirable wine,” Robert Sleigh, head of Sotheby’s Wine in Asia, said.

“It is only fitting that it has broken the world record to become the most valuable single wine lot ever sold at auction.”

Also sold at the auction was a 66 magnum collection of Henri Jayer, which made HK$8.2m – HK$125,000 per bottle.

In all, the sale realised HK$45.7m, was 90% sold by lot with 50% of lots selling for over their high estimates.