Sotheby's Hong Kong Wine Sale Exceeds Expectations

Sotheby's first 2010 wine sale in Hong Kong was held on Saturday at the Mandarin Oriental. It fared extremely well indeed with sales soaring way above even the highest estimates.

The fourth part of the 'The Classic Cellar from a Great American Collector' achieved sales of HK$52,921,770/US$6,784,842, well in excess of the high estimate HK$40.8 million (US$5.2 million).

It is the highest revenue generated from a single day of Sotheby's wine sales. The auctioneers even had to take bids from a secondary sale room to cope with the unprecedented level of demand.

12 bottles of 1982 Chateau Latour were expected to for between HK$140,000—200,000. No chance. They were gobbled up for the hefty price tag of HK$314,600.

A single imperial sized bottle of 1982 Château Lafite also attracted an enormous bid of HKD363,000 but top of the pile was a 12 bottle case of Châteaux Pétrus from 2000 which sold for HKD411,400 ($57,724).

The event represented the auction house's first stand alone wine sale outside the regular spring and autumn sales series. The strongest origins of participation came from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China while online bidders competed for 66% of all lots offered.

Serena Sutcliffe, MW, Head of Sotheby’s International Wine department said: "The Classic Cellar from a Great American Collector is the most important wine collection that Sotheby’s has ever offered at auction and the impeccable provenance means that collectors from across Asia have complete confidence in buying wines from this great cellar."

Sotheby’s Hong Kong Spring Sales 2010 will be held from 3 to 8 April at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center, including 'The Classic Cellar from a Great American Collector V'