As we've reported, Christie's recently held an extraordinary 36-hour Marathon Wine Sale in New York and Hong Kong totalling $11.2m.

The American half of the epic wine marathon, entitled The New York sale of Fine & Rare Wines Featuring Selections from Paul Mann and Lake Placid Lodge achieved US$2.9m.

The top lot of the sale was a case of 1945 Latour which sold for $72,000, the highest price realized for the wine since Christie's set the world auction record in 2007. Nevertheless it was the Hong Kong side of the auction which was clearly the bigger draw.

The Hong Kong sale of Finest & Rarest Wines "A Tour of Bordeaux: Exceptional Wines from The SK Networks Collection" and "Featuring Superb Collection of Rare Pétrus and Mature DRC" US$8.2m (HK$64m). The top lot was 60 bottles of 60 Years of Château Mouton Rothschild from vintage 1945 to 2005, which sold for HK$960,000/US$123,456 (sic).

David Elswood, Head of Christie's International Wine Department, commented, "The sales in Hong Kong over the two days of 9 and 10 April demonstrate a growing diversification in Asian buyers' collecting tastes and buying habits. 

"In addition, the New York sales on April 9th show a healthy comeback for the U.S. market.  Together these overall results prove that demand for wines of the highest quality and provenance remains very strong around the world, and Asia remains a fast-moving and increasingly sophisticated market."

Charles Curtis, MW, Head of Wine for Asia at Christie's, commented, "Our sale […]  saw continued growth in demand for older vintages, such as the superb collection of 60 years of Château Mouton-Rothschild from 1945 to 2005 (estimate: HK$400-600,000, sold HK$960,000), and an emerging interesting in the rarest Burgundies, in particular vintages from Romanée-Conti and La Tâche. 

"While Asian buying made up the majority of our top lots, the extensive worldwide bidding, especially for the very top end of the spectrum, signals a welcome recovery of the global wine market and the attraction of Christie's Hong Kong wine sales as an important platform for international buyers to acquire the finest and rarest wines."

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