As the hammer came down on Christie’s wine auction in Hong Kong recently, Singapore kidney specialist Dr. Gordon Ku netted a cool $ 3.8 million from his fine wine collection.
Dr. Ku had auctioned only about half his collection of 15,000 bottles that he stores in 3 cellars at home. The rest he keeps in commercial cellars. He sold his lot of Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru 2001 Cros-Parantoux for $55,000, much higher than the estimated range of $33,000- 49,000. The sell-through rate at the auction was 96% by lot and 97% by value.
Wine collectors in Asia are prepared to do whatever it takes to buy fine and rare bottles
A few months ago HK billionaire Henry Tang sold ‘a small portion’ of his fine Burgundy wines for $6.2 million at nearly double the pre-sale estimate of $3.74, with a 100% sell-through rate in value and lot.
The two auctions have put the spotlight on how Asia’s affluence is fuelling not just the prices of stocks and property but of wines, art, vintage watches and other collectibles (more on that in another post).
Single-owner auctions like that of Dr. Ku and Henry Tang were unheard of in Asia earlier. These two were the only ones held by Christie’s in Hong Kong for Asian consignors. Most collectors keep their profiles private. Dr Ku has been collecting wine for 40 years. Henry Tang boasted that he had “enough wine to last two, three, maybe four lifetimes.” Sophisticated Chinese investors like these are now looking to cash in on the strong interest in wines.
Interestingly, at the Henry Tang auction all the top lots went to private Asian buyers, including trophies like six magnums from the Domaine de la Romanee Conti from 1995 that were snapped up for more than $150,000. A case of 12 Montrachet from 1978 sold for double its pre-sale estimate at $110,000.
Christie says that the number of Chinese wine bidders in its Hong Kong auctions has grown by 1550 per cent! Of course, if the number screams at you, it is because majority of the Chinese and Asian buyers are just about initiating their wine collections.
Wine sales in the U.S shot up between 1994 through mid-2008, when the Rich in the U.S. built significant cellars and paid top dollars in pursuit of fine wines. Now that action has shifted to Asia. The Asian Rich after making money in property and stocks are both diversifying their investments into jewels, art and fine wines and consuming more. They want to have their wines at any cost. Basically their cellars are empty and their coffers full of cash. For the first time in 2009, U.S. sales were eclipsed in value by wine sales in 2010, although overall sales are still higher in the U.S.
Asian wine collectors are basically where the Americans were in the late nineties and early 2000. And in the next 15 years they are likely to lead the world in collecting the best and rarest wines. What is helping them is Hong Kong cut its wine duty to zero in 2008 from 80% earlier on. While U.S. taxes on wine vary from state to state, the UK imposes a flat $31.90 duty irrespective of value. This positions Hong Kong as a centre for wine trade, alongside New York and London. It has opened up a great scope for wine education, collecting and consuming. Hong Kong now has a great infrastructure for wine trading, storage, logistics and transportation.
No wonder then the Rich like Dr. Ku and Henry Tang are opening up their cellars and the next wave of collectors lapping up the offering at prices never seen before in Asia.
Singapore Doc Nets $3.8 million From Fine Wine: What It Tells You About Asia"s ...
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