Rare Champagne Leads Acker Merrall’s $8 Million Hong Kong Sale

Acker Merrall & Condit said it sold HK$61.8 million ($7.97 million) of wine at its two-day auction ending Sept. 22, with 98 percent of lots finding buyers.

About 36 percent of lots sold above their high estimates, showing demand has remained resilient despite uncertainty in the global economy.

“We nearly had all lots sold,” Acker Chief Executive Officer John Kapon said after the sale. “Things certainly felt pretty good.”

The auction was boosted by almost HK$8 million worth of champagne sold, including a rare bottle of 1966 Blanc de Blanc and a bottle of 1947 Krug Collection, both of which went for HK$108,240, fetching the highest price per bottle at the sale, according to a company release.

Hong Kong continues to dominate the wine auction market with newly minted Chinese millionaires helping drive sales. On Sept. 10 Acker sold $3.2 million of wine in a one-day New York sale.

The next major Hong Kong wine sale will be held by Sotheby’s (BID) on Oct. 5 and 6 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

(Frederik Balfour is a reporter-at-large for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his own.)

Muse Highlights include Elin McCoy on wine and Jeremy Gerard on theater.

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

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net

A case of La Tache Domaine de la Romanee Conti that sold at Acker Merrall & Condit Hong Kong auction that ran on Sept. 20 and 21. Source: Acker Merrall & Condit

John Kapon, chief executive officer of Acker Merrall & Condit conducting a wine auction held in Hong Kong on Sept. 20 and 21. Source: Acker Merrall & Condit