Despite the reported global recession, the two recent Hong Kong wine auctions are clear indicators  that it is fast becoming the wine hub for Asia and that an affluent segment of the Chinese are becoming avid  collectors of fine wines. 

Sotheby's first-ever single-owner wine auction in Asia last Saturday fetched about US$6.4m, nearly twice the expected amount of US$2.6-3.7m estimated by the professionals before the auction. All the 749 lots taken from 'The Classic Cellar from a Great American Collector' were sold out; 94% fetched more than the pre-sale estimates.  The planned auction was reported in delWine in a previous edition.

'There were many new buyers from mainland China in particular,'Said Serena Sutcliffe MW, who choreographed the auction, adding, 'today is a fantastic and exciting start to our regular wine sales in Asia; it provides a magnificent platform from which we can move forward in this dynamic marketplace.'

Patti Wong, chairman of Sotheby's Asia, commented that the success of the sale was a testament to the growing significance of Hong Kong as an auction hub in the Asian fine wine market.

Last month another auction by Acker Merrall & Condit, the 190- year old family run wine seller from the US brought in around $ 4.5 million with 96 percent sold to buyers from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Indonesia etc. A bottle of 1928 Krug Champagne had fetched over $21,000 (over Rs. 1 million), setting a new world record for the price of any bottle of champagne sold at an auction.

"The sale clearly underlined the continuing strong interest in Hong Kong for the finest and rarest wines. The market has stabilized in 2009," John Kapon, president of the firm had said after the auction. 

The Sotheby Auction was the second of two auctions offering wine from the same cellar. The first, held in New York last month, realised only a total of US$2.2m, high-lighting the importance of rich and growing wine collectors in Asia.

Hong Kong government's smart move of waiving off duties on wine in 2008 has given a great boost to the market and helped foster a stronger wine culture in Hong Kong, which is now well positioned to become the wine hub in the Asia region.

The swift change in the drinking habits of Hong Kong and several surrounding Asian nations can be gauged by the fact that the wines auctioned were mostly of Grand Cru variety and included mostly Bordeaux's First and Second Growths, Burgundy, Rhone, Pomerol as well as Super Tuscans and Piemontese wines. Petrus, La Pin, DRC, La Tache, Vega Sicilia Unico, Grange, Chapoutier, Gaja, Yquem, Krug, Dom Perignon are only a few of the labels that adorned the catalogue of wines being offered.