Sotheby’s announces ‘highest-estimated’ wine sale in history

Auction house Sotheby’s has announced a three-day sale in Hong Kong this March has the highest pre-sale estimate “in history”.

Taking place from 29-31 March, the sale will feature 2,704 (16,889 bottles) and is expected to realise HK$147-206 million (US$19-26m).

Dubbed the ‘Tran-scend-ent’ sale, it will feature all the great names from Bordeayx, Burgundy, Champagne, the Rhône and Italy and all come from the cellar of a single collector.

The auction will feature over 250 lots of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, 80 lots from Domaine Leroy, 600 lots of Coche-Dury, featuring a complete library of the estate’s wines dating back to the 1980s and with the number of bottles “potentially exceeding stocks held by the winery”.

There is also a large amount of Champagne including Dom Pérignon as well as its rosé, ‘Oenothèque and P2 and P3 variants dating back to the 1960s.

From the Rhône there are over 140 lots of Guigal, including many wines from the famous 1985 vintage and the very first vintage of La Landonne (1978).

Bordeaux, meanwhile, is represented by all the first growths including 1945 Mouton Rothschild and La Mission Haut-Brion, 1961 Lafite and 1959 Latour.

Adam Bilbey, head of Sotheby’s Wine, Asia, said: “We have witnessed strong momentum in the Asian wine market, with its voracious appetite for the very best wines. Tran-scend-ent Wines epitomizes a modern wine cellar from a new wave of enlightened collectors, and will offer wine lovers from the region and beyond the opportunity to acquire wines of impeccable quality in substantial quantities. I look forward to presenting this important collection in Hong Kong, Asia’s capital of wine.”