Wine lovers defy recession to pay up to 40,000 dollars a bottle

Nov 16, 2008, 5:31 GMT

Hong Kong - Wine lovers from across Asia showed their love for a fine vintage is recession-proof when they bid up to almost 40,000 US dollars for each rare bottle, auctioneers said Sunday.

One unnamed bidder bought three jeroboams of La Tache Vintage 1990 red burgundy for a total of 118,628 dollars at the auction held Saturday, according to organizers.

Another paid 274,718 dollars for a collection of 144 bottles from the same sought-after winemaker Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, working out to about 1,907 dollars per bottle.

A case of 12 initial vintage 1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon fetched 112,384 dollars, or 9,365 dollars each, while a case of six bottles of Krug Vintage Champagne, which came with tickets to Paris and a stay at the Krug maison, brought 51,197 dollars.

Around 300 collectors and traders from Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Japan and the US packed the auction, the second to be held this year by wine merchant Acker Merrall & Condit at the Island Shangri-La Hotel.

Held one day after Hong Kong officially went into recession, prices failed to reach those paid at the US wine merchant's first Hong Kong auction held in May.

Saturday's sale realized an estimated total of 6.7 million US dollars compared with 8.2 million in May - which at the time was the highest total for any wine auction ever held in Asia.

Earlier in the week, the wine merchant acknowledged the decline in the economy could affect sales by reducing the reserve prices of the lots by more than 20 per cent, meaning that bidding started at a lower price.

But John Kapon, Acker Merrall & Condit's president and auction director, said the sale had gone exceedingly well with around 90 per cent of the 950 lots being sold, most achieving the low end of their estimated price range.

'There wasn't the magic we had in May but it went very well and I think everyone was pleased given the doom and gloom out there. There were some individual collectors, traders and a casino owner or two that got some great deals,' he said.

'The world has proven historically that things go down a little bit but they always come back higher than ever before and I think the smart buyers knew that and they were bidding accordingly.'

Kapon said he believed wine was still a good investment and one of the best 'liquid assets' in the current climate.

'Wine has always held its value. In my 10 years of business it has only gone one way and that is up. Given that fact, I think it is always going to hold its own and it's just a question of buying from the right producers and the right vintages,' he said.

'At least if you have a great wine collection you won't wake up the following day and find out it is worthless and if worse comes to the worst you can always drink it.'

Other highlights of Saturday's auction included a full cage of 504 bottles of Krug Grande Cuvee which went for 76,171 US dollars.