On 2 October, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Sotheby' s Hong Kong will open its autumn wine auctions, as well as kick off its Autumn 2010 Sale Series with The Magnificent Cellar of Marcus D. Hiles

Marcus Hiles, a Texas real-estate investor and noted philanthropist, is a wine collector par excellence; going so far as to have an underground river in his cellar to cool and humidify his impressive collection. The upcoming offering from Mr. Hiles includes over 6,500 bottles, and is estimated at HK$23.4—36.7 million (US$3—4.7 million),

The highlight of the sale is a superb collection of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti with 1,030 bottles in various formats valued at HK$ 8.9—13.8 million (US$ 1.1—1.8 million), making it the largest DRC collection ever offered by Sotheby' s in Asia.

On 3 October, Sotheby' s will offer the sixth sale of wine from the phenomenal collection, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre as well: The Classic Cellar from a Great American Collector Part VI.

It is now widely recognised that The Classic Cellar from a Great American Collector is one of the greatest wine collections ever assembled, with an astonishing depth of wines from the best Chateaux across many vintages and formats.

The previous five sales have already taken in over HK$200 million (US$26 million), generating enormous excitement among wine collectors which is set to continue with the sixth offering from an already astonishing collection.

According to information released by Sotheby, in July 2010, Sotheby' s announced the appointment of Robert Sleigh as Head of Sotheby' s Wine, Asia, and Michelle Chan as Wine Specialist, both will be based in Hong Kong. Mr. Sleigh was formerly Head of Sotheby' s New York Wine Department and with these two appointments, Sotheby' s now stands as the only international auction house in Hong Kong with a fully staffed wine business, with a senior experienced wine auction specialist.

Of the four auctions held at Sotheby' s Hong Kong, three were single owner sales from prestigious cellars including the sale of Cheval Blanc, Yquem and Dom Pérignon direct from the Chateau.

To be noticed from sotheby'  data, China, HK included, will be optimisticly anticipated a major global wine market in near future.

In the first half of 2010 Sotheby' s global wine sales totaled HK$291,049,114 (US$37,313,989), the equivalent figure in 2009 was HK$ 149,866,704 (US$19,213,680) --- a 94% increase. Of the total, 55% was sold in Hong Kong, 27% in London and 18% in New York.

The HK$291,049,114 total is the highest for any auction house selling wine in the three major auction centers of New York, London and Hong Kong.

All of Sotheby' s Hong Kong wine sales so far this year have been 100% sold --- the only major auction house with this record.
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