A double magnum of 1870 Chateau Lafite, described as a “once in a lifetime wine” and listed as “priceless” went under the hammer this past Saturday, (Jan 14, 2012) at the Acker Merrall and Condit Auction in the Grand Hyatt hotel in Hong Kong.
The wine itself, stored in the cellars of Chateau Lafite until 2003 when it was sold for an undisclosed amount in a French auction in 2003, has been stored in the United States by an undisclosed avid wine collector.
It is true that a bottle of this size and age is extremely rare, the last one sold before the French auction was sold by Christie’s in a London auction in 1999 and fetched just over HK$330,000, so expectations were high as Lot 843 approached at auction.
As Acker CEO John Kapon announced the beginning of Lot 843 there was a buzz around the room and attendees applauded the announcement.
Sadly though, the price and the expected frenetic bidding did not really materialise. The bidding was opened at HK$320,000 and only fetched a total of HK$488,000 including the buyer’s premium payable to the auction house.
The purchase was made by a local Hong Kong bidder who remained anonymous and, like others, had perceived a much higher price as bids were placed at higher levels by the said bidder but with the lack of competition, the house had to settle for the amount it received due to a muted performance by bidders in the room.
This lackluster performance was seen throughout the day with Bordeaux seemingly falling from the crest of the tsunami it has been riding in recent years. Burgundy once again took centre stage with old vintages of Romanee Conti again stealing the headlines.
The 1870 Lafite itself is described by Robert Parker as “a provocative, compelling, profound bottle of legendary wine. The colour is a healthy dark garnet and the huge nose of freshly sliced celery, mint, cedar and cassis unfolded quickly during the 30-40 minutes it remained there before it became just a mere component of my bodily fluids. The wine exhibited sweet fruit, surprising glycerin and opulence for a Lafite, and a sweet, jammy, powerful finish. It is an extraordinary wine”! – 96 points.
There is no doubt of the provenance of this wine as Claude Maratier, an expert before the Court of Appeals in Paris and also a member of the Merchandise Brokers who appear in the Court as experts in matters such as wine authentification, gave written attestation of the true origins and authenticity of this special and unique bottle.
In all, auctions this year in Hong Kong have failed to live up to expectation and not reached the highs seen at the latter part of 2011 with slower than expected attendance and bidding from clients from Mainland China. Sotheby’s and Zachy’s auctions recently here did not fare as well as the Acker auction and something could be said about the proximity to Chinese New Year having an effect on bidding from China.
It will be interesting to see how Ackers’ March auction is received. For sure Burgundy will continue its rapid climb to the top of the wine ladder but it will be interesting to see how Bordeaux, whose price is so heavily influenced by Asian buying, fares throughout 2012.
With so much Bordeaux held for investment the future looks a little bleaker for the once so sought after region. Let’s see if people abandon their stocks in fire sales as quickly as they snapped it up or if it returns to the product it was designed to be – a drinking wine.
In all the auction fetched a total of HK$66,865,760 and was 90% sold.
Contributed by Alasdair Nicol, TLN Editor – Hong Kong
