Hong Kong Wine Auction Fetches Record HK$64 Million, Acker Says
By Le-Min Lim
Last Updated: May 31, 2008 09:44 EDT

Picture: Singaporean, Singgih Gunawan is seen after buying a case containing 12 bottles of Romanee-Conti, vintage 1990, at a fine wine auction in a hotel in Hong Kong on May 31, 2008. The case was sold to Gunawan for a total of 1.8876 million HKD (242,000 USD). The auction house, Acker Merrall and Condit, donated the buyers premium, which equals 21 percent of the auctioned price, which totalled 327 600 HKD (42 000 USD) to ‘Habitat for Humanity’ a charity helping to rebuild housing for the quake victims in China.

Acker Merrall & Condit Co., the world’s largest wine auctioneer, sold HK$64 million ($8.2 million) of the beverage in Asia’s biggest wine sale in Hong Kong after the city abolished tax on the drink.

The top lot, 12 bottles of 1990 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti fetched HK$1.89 million, the high end of an estimated range and an auction record for a case of Romanée-Conti. The buyer is a Singaporean collector, said Singgih Gunawan, whose second bid of HK$1.56 million won the lot. The final price includes a 21 percent buyer’s premium that Acker gave toward helping victims of the deadly May 12 earthquake in China’s Sichuan province.

The item is one of about 900 lots Acker had expected would fetch a total of $6 million. About 92 percent of lots offered sold. Acker will return for a second auction in November to offer about 1,000 lots, President John Kapon said.

“It’s a very impressive auction; a lot of enthusiasm and strong prices,” said Ahmed Lindenberg, a Hong Kong-based vintner.

The Hong Kong government abolished duties on wine in February to capture a slice of the market for trading, storing and shipping wine. Most Asian wine investors currently buy and store rare wines in London.

A lot of three magnums of Dom Perignon from 1966, 1973 and 1976 sold for HK$726,000, an auction record for champagne. The second- and third-most expensive lots — a case and a 6-bottle set of 1945 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, respectively — were bought by Italian Cecilia Piacitelli for a European investment fund she declined to identify. The wine smells of black fruits, coffee, tobacco, mocha and spices.

`Piece of a Story’

“This wine is a piece of story so I always buy when I can,” said Piacitelli, in an interview.

About 200 people packed the salesroom at Hong Kong’s Island Shangri-la Hotel. Bidding was as vigorous as it was jocular and sporting. No one complained when the organizers had to give up the hall for a local wedding and move the sale to a different room. The crowd cheered when waiters later came down the aisle and served glasses of the rare Dom Perignon 1995 champagne.

“There’s a lot of good energy in the room,” said Kapon, 36, noting that Chinese buyers, who kept low profiles at the auction, probably bought 30 percent of the top 20 lots.

Asian wine consumption rose 60 percent to $7.4 billion from 2002 to 2007, according to Hong Kong’s trade development board. In the same period, U.S. demand increased by a quarter to $18.5 billion while Europe’s fell to $58 billion from $61 billion.

Hong Kong’s move to scrap the wine tax is spurring trade in the beverage. About 8,000 people visited Vinexpo Asia-Pacific, a record for the region’s biggest wine and spirits exhibition.

To contact the writer of this story: Le-Min Lim in Hong Kong at lmlim@bloomberg.net

Source & Credits: Bloomberg (US).

香港葡萄酒拍賣的拍賣紀錄，港幣6400萬美元， acker說
由樂民林
上次更新時間： 2008年5月31日美國東部時間9時44分

5月31日: Acker Merrall＆康迪特公司，世界上最大的葡萄酒拍賣，賣出港幣6 400萬美元（ 8 20萬美元）飲料在亞洲最大的葡萄酒在香港出售後，市取消稅對酒後。

頂端不少， 12瓶1990年的領域內德香格里拉羅馬-連續牽強港元一百八十九萬美元，高端估計的範圍和拍賣紀錄，為案件羅馬- 』 。買方是新加坡的收藏家說， singgih古納萬，其第二次出價港幣一五六○○○○韓元該地段。最後的價格，包括21 ％ ，買方的溢價acker了對受害者的幫助致命的5月12日的地震在中國的四川省。

該項目是一個約900地段acker曾預計將市值總額達600萬元。約92 ％的土地，提供出售。 acker將返回為第二個拍賣在11月提供約1000地段，前總統約翰卡蓬說。

他這是一個非常令人印象深刻的拍賣;了很多的熱情和強烈的價格，說艾哈邁德林登貝格，總部設在香港的vintner 。

香港政府取消了對葡萄酒的職責，在2月捕獲切片市場交易，儲存和航運的葡萄酒。大多數亞洲葡萄酒的投資者，目前購買和儲存難得的葡萄酒在倫敦。

很多3 magnums的DOM的perignon從1966年， 1973年至1976年賣出港幣七二六○○○美元，拍賣紀錄香檳。第二和第三最昂貴的地段-病例和6瓶一套1 945年的木桐酒莊R othschild的，分別為-購買由意大利塞西莉亞皮亞奇泰利為歐洲投資基金，她拒絕透露。葡萄酒的氣味，黑色水果，咖啡，煙草，摩卡和香料。

`一塊一個故事’

他這酒是一塊的故事，所以我總是買的時候，我可以說皮亞奇泰利，在接受記者採訪。

約200人擠滿了該salesroom在香港的港島香格里拉酒店舉行。招投標是作為有力的，因為這是jocular及運動。沒有人抱怨時，組織者不得不放棄大廳，為當地的婚禮和動議出售給不同的房間。人群歡呼時，侍應生後來大幅降價和服務眼鏡的稀有的DOM perignon 1995年的香檳。

他有很多的好能源，在房間內，卡蓬說， 36歲，注意到中國買家，誰低的配置文件保存在拍賣，大概買了30 ％的前20手。

亞洲葡萄酒的消費量上升60 ％ ，以74億美元從2002年到2007年，根據香港的貿易發展局。在同一期間，美國的需求增加，由上季的185億美元，而歐洲的下跌至580億美元，從610億美元。

香港的動議取消葡萄酒稅是促進貿易的飲料。約8000人參觀vinexpo亞洲-太平洋，創下該地區最大的葡萄酒及烈酒展覽會。