Sothebys Hong Kong Wine Sale Performs Well

Le-Min Lim of Bloomberg is reporting that the recent Sotheby's Hong Kong wine sale did very well. As a matter of fact every one of the 9,000 bottles of wine that were on sale sold. Many at above the estimates, including a 6-liter bottle of 1961 Chateau Latour which $62,000, against a presale estimate of nearly $51,500.00. The sale totaled $6.4 million.

Lim reports With this auction, Sotheby’s waded into Hong Kong nascent wine-auction market to rival competitors Christie’s International and Acker Merrall & Condit Kong, wine has fared better than other categories at auction, with Christie’s and . In HongAcker reporting more than 90 percent of lots selling at their most-recent sales, aided by competition between bidders even as economic growth slowed.

Lim continues About 300 people -- some seated at tables that served snacks, with others sitting in rows -- watched in the packed room as auctioneer Jamie Ritchie took bids from telephone and salesroom buyers.

Yesterday’s auction was the twin of a March 14 sale in New York that netted $2.2 million, both of which sold bottles from the same American collector, which Sotheby’s didn’t identify.

The Hong Kong government is promoting the city as Asia’s wine-trading center. Last February, the government abolished duties on the beverage, lowering the costs of trading and storing bottles in Hong Kong to encourage more Asian collectors to move their wines from current hubs such as London.

To read the full Bloomberg article, click HERE.