A WINE auction held by United States-based wine seller Acker Merrall & Condit in Hong Kong on Saturday fetched HK$64 million (US$8.2 million), setting the record for any wine auction in Asia.
The total sum was in line with high expectations by the auction house, which earlier said it was hoping for more than HK$50 million for the over 900 fine wine lots on offer at the auction.
The sell rate was 92 percent by lot and 97 percent by value, the auction house said.
It was the second large international wine auction held in Hong Kong since the city scrapped duty on wine and beer in February.
The auction recorded 320 buyer registrations and enthusiastic bidders made it impossible for the auction to be completed in six hours, as planned.
It finally lasted about nine hours, with several lots setting new auction records.
The most expensive lot at the auction was a case of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti of 1990, which was sold at HK$1.56 million, in line with previous estimates.
The buyer was a man surnamed Wu from Singapore.
The price was also a record for any case of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti of 1990.
Domaine de la Romanee-Conti is the most famous wine estate in Burgundy. The domaine, commonly known as DRC, is co-owned by the de Villaine and Leroy families.
A case of Chateau Mouton Rothschild of 1945 went for HK$1.2 million while another lot, six magnums of the Mouton Rothschild 1945 vintage, fetched HK$1.3 million. The buyer for both lots was Cecilia Roger, who represented a European investment fund.
Fair price
Both buyers said they got what they wanted at a fair price. A champagne lot fetched a high HK$0.73 million.
John Kapon, president and auction director of Acker Merrall & Condit, said he was "excited about the turnout," adding that the company had decided to come to Hong Kong even before the city announced the duty scrap in February. Kapon said his company will hold another wine auction in Hong Kong in November.
John Tsang, financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, has said that the tax cut could mean an increase of up to HK$4 billion in the trading volume of the local wine business.
International auction house Bonhams put about 250 lots of wine on sale on April 24 in Hong Kong, with a total realized sum of HK$11. 5 million and a sell rate of 96.31 percent, which met the auction house's high expectations.