Sotheby’s to Offer Record $26 Million Wine Collection

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In the latest sign that Chinese thirst for top wines is returning, Sotheby's is offering a single-owner wine collection estimated to sell for as much as a record $26 million.

The auction house will be selling 16,889 bottles in Hong Kong from March 29 to 31 featuring more than 250 lots of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, known as DRC, the most coveted Burgundy wines spanning more than five decades. Top Bordeaux like La Mission Haut-Brion 1945 and Chateau Lafite 1961 are also on the block, Sotheby's said in a release.

After falling to second place after New York as the world's most important wine auction, Hong Kong is starting to pull even, as the number of affluent buyers looking for ways to enjoy their fortunes increases.

“There are a growing number of new millionaires and billionaires going after the pot of gold, it's all about DRC,” said Jeannie Cho Lee, a Hong Kong-based Master of Wine. “DRC is the prestige wine for entertaining, it's all about opening the bottle and being generous."

Single-owner sales normally command a premium at auction because buyers can more easily check the provenance of wines as well as storage and transport history when the seller's identity is known.

“We would be more assured if we knew the background of the seller,” Lee said. “But Sotheby's reputation is very clean. I would be surprised if they haven't done their due diligence.”

--With assistance from Tom Metcalf.

To contact the reporter on this story: Frederik Balfour in Hong Kong at fbalfour@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Steven Crabill, Steve Dickson

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