Lloyd Webber Hong Kong sale fetches nearly $6m

Chateau Lafite – and Andrew Lloyd Webber – have proved as potent a draw as ever in the latest Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction.

US$14.6m (HK$113m) worth of wine was sold in two sales this weekend, setting several records.

The sales, held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on the 22 and 23 January, included 746 lots from The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection and 668 lots from Bordeaux Winebank 2000 Collection.

The Lloyd Webber sale exceeded its high estimate to fetch US$5.6M. A case of 1982 Petrus reached US$77,564, while Chateau Lafite continued to attract feverish bidding, earning US$58,949 for a case of 1982.

Six bottles of 1996 DRC Romanee Conti fetched US$55,846.

‘Top Bordeaux and red Burgundy really took off, but it was particularly warming to see knowledgeable Asian buyers snapping up the fabulous white Burgundies from what must be the best selection so far offered in the region,’ said Serena Sutcliffe MW, head of Sotheby’s International Wine department.

The second sale also exceeded expectations, earning US$9m. The top-selling lot comprised 48 bottles – Chateaux Latour, Haut Brion, Petrus and Margaux – and sold for US$124,102.

This auction set three world records for the 2000 vintage: Chateau Mouton Rothschild US$27,923; Chateau Palmer US$4,964 and Chateau Angelus US$5,985.

The top twenty lots were also notable for interest from European trade buyers.

These sales perpetuated Sotheby’s winning streak of 100% of lots sold, since its first Hong Kong sale in 2009: last year, 2010, Sotheby’s earned US$52.6m from its Hong Kong sales.

The first Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, sold at Sotheby’s in London in May 1997, fetched more than £3.5m.

Written by Maggie Rosen