Acker Merrall & Condit, concluded this weekend the successful two-day Hong Kong sale held at Island Shangri-La and Grand Hyatt Hong Kong.
An impressive total of HK$83,940,880/US$10,761,651 was achieved with 99% sold. Over 1,080 lots of the world's finest and rarest wines, including superb selections of top quality Bordeaux and Burgundy from very important collections were offered and drew spirited bidding from wine collectors in the auction room and over the internet.
With first quarter results of US$31,283,619, Acker Merrall & Condit continues to dominate the wine auction market with second place being a distant 36% less.
John Kapon, CEO of Acker Merrall & Condit Companies, commented after the sale: "The strength of the Hong Kong auction market remains as exciting as day one. To be in the room with almost 400 eager and spirited bidders is a sight to behold, and prices continue to climb and achieve new heights with each passing month.
"While Bordeaux will always be king in the Asian market, it is clear that Chinese collectors have crowned Burgundy as their queen, with more interest in Burgundy than ever before. And this is just the beginning, not only for Burgundy, but for wine in general."
A stunning array of the legendary Henri Jayer wines took centre-stage, not least due to the impeccable provenance of coming directly from the cellars of Martine Saunier, personal friend and US importer of his wines for more than 30 years.
The top-selling lot of the entire March sale series was a rare full case of 1978 Jayer Richebourg (Lot 276) that sold well above the pre-sale estimate for HK$1,647,000/US$211,154, setting the World Auction Record for this wine.
In addition, cases of 1996-1999 Vosne Romanée Cros Parantoux (Lots 851-855) also sold above high estimate, as 12 bottles of 1999 (Lot 855) realized a stunning HK$488,000/US$62,464.
The sale prominently featured a tremendous Asian Collection of investment-grade wines, in which 12 bottles of 2003 Romanée-Conti (Lot 1022) achieved HK$976,000/US$125,128, another World Record achieved at auction.
Equally superlative are 6 bottles of 1999 Romanée-Conti (Lot 821) that sold for HK$634,400/US$81,333, and high prices were achieved for other top quality Burgundy including La Tâche, Échézeaux, Richebourg and Montrachet.
First-growth gems including Lafite Rothschild, Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild, Latour and Haut-Brion continued to achieve strong prices, while Right Bank jewels excelled, highlighted by Pétrus, Ausone, Lafleur and Cheval Blanc.
Of particular note wer four rare cases of 1982 Lafite Rothschild which aroused enormous interest with one case (Lot 253) selling for HK$536,800/US$68,821, while 1982 Pétrus also attracted fierce bidding with two cases fetching HK$585,600/US$75,077 (Lot 224) and HK$536,800/US$68,821 (Lot 224A) respectively.
A case of 1990 Pétrus also achieved HK$463,000/US$59,436 (Lot 341).
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