Chateau Lafite 1982 Fetches $46,700 at Hong Kong Wine Auction
Lafite 1982
At a recent sold-out wine auction in Hong Kong, a 6-liter bottle of Château Lafite 1982 sold for HK$363,000, ($46,700), according to Bloomberg. This was almost double the pre-sale estimates. Clearly, the search for rare wines as well as growing inflation concerns in the fine wine investments market is driving prices in East Asia higher and higher.
The total amount of sales for the 10-hour auction totalled HK$52.9 million, over 10 million higher than predictions made by Sotheby’s that it would max out at HK40 million. Bloomberg reports that bidders who attended the auction at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel drank glasses of Louis Roederer Blanc de Blanc 2003 and Haut Brion 199 as they bid. Another notable bid that occurred during this period included a Château Petrus 1982, which sold for HK$435,600, against a top estimate of HK$130,000.
East Asian fine wine investments
As economies such as China continue to inflate as the government increases spending to sustain growth, some buyers choose to convert their currency into assets such as fine wine to protect their wealth, according to Agnes Hon, a private-equity investor and wine collector who bought several lots at the sale.
Buyers in East Asian countries like China are quickly looking to turn money into assets like fine wine in order to protect their wealth, said Agnes Hon who spoke to Bloomberg regarding the auction.
There are others who are buying just for the pleasure, says Kevin Ching, the Asia chief executive of Sotheby’s. This is particularly the case in mainland China, whose buyers won at least a quarter of the auction’s bids.
Ching told Bloomberg that many Chinese people buy wine in order to drink, entertain and impress. This would lead to them replenishing their stock more often, and thus, buying more wine.
The Hong Kong Wine investment market
In February 2008, Hong Kong scrapped wine duties, which had a predictable effect on demand. Last year, 14 wine auctions were held, the value of which totals almost HK$500 million. Hong Kong has reportedly surpassed London as Sotheby’s largest fine wine investments market, second only to New York.
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By Le-Min Lim
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=av_pyXRhwmpE
Originally published in January 2010