Since Hong Kong eliminated all wine duties last year, the city has become a major center for wine sales to China's newly rich, allowing them to engage in a tax-free bacchanal of buying, trading, sniffing and sipping. Apparently deciding no taxes wasn't enough, however, one group of enterprising oenophiles recently opted for a more dramatic way to lower their costs.

On Monday night, robbers stole 228 bottles of vintage Chateau Lafite Rothschild, France's prized Bordeaux – a haul valued at 6.8 million Hong Kong dollars ($877,000), Hong Kong police confirmed.

The bottles, which were all from the same vintage—1982–were being stored in a warehouse in the city's New Territories, which border mainland China. Apparently, several men surreptitiously entered the warehouse, tying up and gagging a guard, who later phoned police. The theft was first reported in the South China Morning Post.

These days, '82 Lafite represents the height of wine prestige in China. Collectors and counterfeiters alike have made a mint on the hefty sums this particular brand and year can command. In Hong Kong, a bottle goes for anywhere between HK$37,000 and HK$48,000. People in the wine business here say there is more'82 Lafite in China than was ever produced that year in France. 

Police here have alerted customs officials to be on the lookout for smugglers trying to carry the booty across the border, for resale to thirsty mainland buyers.