Sotheby’s enjoys HK$84m weekend

Auctioneer Sotheby’s saw its weekend fine wine and spirit sale in Hong Kong achieve an impressive HK$84 million (US$11m).

The sale featured three cellars and a limited edition decanter of Louis XIII. The first cellar realised HK$22m (US$2.9m) and the 99 lots of Petrus it included were all sold.

The second cellar likewise made HK$22m with a grand total of 61 lots of Henri Jayer wines selling for HK$7.7m (US$985,000) and the third cellar which featured large format Masseto achieved HK$38m (US$4.9m) with a 15 litre Nebuchadnezzar of 2010 Masseto leading the way at HK$171,500 (US$22,000).

The magnum of Louis XIII was eventually sold to a Vietnamese collector for HK$1.5m (US$190,000).

The highest selling lot was a dozen bottles of Henri Jayer’s 1995 Cros Parantoux, which sold for HK$514,500 (US$65,962) and a double-magnum of 1865 Lafite was close behind on HK$343,000 (US$43,974. More six and twelve packs of Jayer were littered throughout the list of the top 10 best-selling lots but there was also a magnum of 1870 Lafite which made HK$269,500 (US$34,551) and a three bottle ‘vertical’ of Le Pin made HK$232,750 (US$29,840).

Jamie Ritchie, worldwide head of wine at Sotheby’s, commented: “The sales of HK$84 million this weekend bring our worldwide total for the last 30 days to HK$152 million (US$19.5 million), a clear affirmation of Sotheby’s leadership in the global wine market.”

Adam Bilbey, head of Sotheby’s Wine Asia, added: “To sell over 2,000 lots in a single weekend, with a sale total of HK$84 million shows the depth of demand at all levels of the market. There were great prices across the board for Bordeaux and Burgundy, from the 19th-century through to the 2010 vintage, in a range of formats. We were also delighted to help support the work of the Film Foundation with the HK$1.5 million achieved for the Asia edition of the Louis XIII L’odyssée D’un Roi.”