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Ultimate cellars in Hong Kong
Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction season will commence with two sales featuring large format Bordeaux and the biggest collections of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and other white Burgundies ever to come up for auction in the city.
The three-day auction starts with the seventh sale from the cellar of a “Great American Collector”. Over 4,000 lots have been sold from this cellar and all have been sold. This latest tranche features 500 lots and is expected to raise between US$3.1 million to $4.7m.
Large format bottles are much in evidence, with particular highlights being six Jeroboams of Mouton-Rothschild 2000 valued at $8,000 – $12,000 each; six imperials of the same at $10,000 to $18,000 apiece and five imperials of Margaux 1996 for $6,000 to $10,000.
There are two cases of Lafite 1982 ($40,000 – $60,000 each), nine case of Pétrus 1995 ($14,000 to $25,000) and “wonderful selections” of Ausone, Léoville Lascases, Krug, and Dom Pérignon.
Meanwhile, taking place over the following two days (2-3 April) is the “Ultimate Cellar”, which not only features the biggest DRC collection Sotheby’s has ever auctioned in Hong Kong but is also the highest-value wine sale ever organised, with the 1,300 lots expected to fetch between $7m and $10m.
Serena Sutcliffe MW described the line-up as: “The sort of extraordinary collection that one sees only a few times during one’s life. It is unique in the depth and quality of composition making it simply The Ultimate Cellar.
“One of the first sensations we felt upon visiting the collection was admiration for the exemplary quest for quality exercised by the owner, followed by amazement as to how he managed to acquire such treasures on this scale.”
Covering 383 lots, totaling 2,800 bottles and spanning the years 1942 to 2005, the collection of DRC is certainly impressive.
Notable lots include two cases of La Tâche 1990 ($40,000-$60,000 each); one case of Romanée-Conti 1990 ($170,000-$240,000) and three magnums of La Tâche 1971 ($15,000-$20,000).
White Burgundy is also well represented, with 168 bottles of Montrachet DRC from 1967 to 2005, 144 bottles from Comte Lafon and 146 bottles from Domaine Ramonet.
Claret is not forgotten and collectors will have the chance to bid for 400 bottles of Latour from 1945-1995, 154 bottles of Pétrus from 1947-1996 and 230 bottles of Mouton from 1941-1995.
All that on top of cases of Margaux 1982, Haut-Brion 1959 and Lafite 1982, Yquem 1940-2001 and Haut-Brion Blanc from 1976-2001.
Rupert Millar, 03.03.2011
The current exponential growth in fine wine auctions certainly makes for headlines.
Liv-ex, the wine exchange, published an article earlier this year analyzing the results of 25 tradable Bordeaux brands, going on to highlight that, overall, the winning bidder paid on average a premium of 13% for buying at auction in Hong Kong.
The arrival of new rich to the wine auction scene has led to a much younger age-group, 39 in China, without familiarity to price ceilings or vintages who will literally keep bidding until they win, pushing prices up.
To this end, some Hong Kong merchants note that, for them, their competition remains the London fine wine merchants, as its central position in the secondary market means that, as often as not, it is here that the best prices, whether buying or selling, can be found.
James Oliver Swann at
www.dittonwinetraders.co.uk