Tran-scend-ent Wines Smashes Record For Private Wine Collection Sold At Auction - Achieving $30 Million

2,700 Lots in 25 Hours Top Prices Led by Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Mouton Rothschild

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Apr 01, 2019, 09:00 ET

HONG KONG, April 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A new record for a private wine collection sold at auction was set at Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) in Hong Kong last night, when a three-day sale of Tran-scend-ent Wines concluded with a grand total of $29,756,077, far surpassing its pre-sale low estimate of $19 million, and with 98% of lots sold.

Jamie Ritchie, Worldwide Head of Sotheby's Wine, commented: "Transcendent Wines was aptly named, setting the record for the highest value private wine collection ever sold at auction at US$30 million, beating the total achieved at Sotheby's in 2016 for the William I. Koch sale. This result continues our record-setting trend and marks a significant moment in the history of wine auctions, presenting a new benchmark in the wine industry. The scale, quality and value of this collection is totally unprecedented, and the superb result is a fitting outcome, as collectors continue to compete for the world's greatest wines. To present the most important single-cellar collections at auction is to quench the insatiable thirst of today's enlightened collectors who are buying to open and enjoy the bottles, a sentiment very much in tune with the man who put together this outstanding collection."

Adam Bilbey, Head of Sotheby's Wine, Asia, said: "These results reinforce the fact that Hong Kong is the most important wine auction sales destination in the world. Collectors' thirst for an increasing variety of wines demonstrates a broadening of the market and ever-diversifying tastes."

The sale was led by Romanée Conti 1990 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, with three 12-bottle lots selling for $347,520 each; a 12-bottle lot of DRC's Romanée-Conti 1985 achieving $300,131; and three 12-bottle lots of Mouton Rothschild 1945 bringing $252,742 each.

The highest-estimated wine auction in history, Tran-scend-ent Wines was the most significant single-owner wine sale ever held and brought to the market in unprecedented breadth and depth some of the greatest names in the wine world. Featuring the finest producers from Burgundy, Champagne, Rhône, Bordeaux and Italy, the sale included 250+ lots of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, 600+ lots of Domaine Coche-Dury, 350+ lots of Dom Pérignon, and 140+ lots of Domaine Guigal. A surge in demand for wines from Burgundy has seen Domaine de la Romanée-Conti reign supreme, leading Sotheby's Wine's Annual Market Report as Top Producer every year since the company began its annual rankings in 2013.

NOTES TO EDITORS: SOTHEBY'S WINE
Sotheby's Wine's annual worldwide sales reached an important new milestone in 2018, with sales significantly exceeding US$100 million in a single year.

The Rare Domaine de la Romanée-Conti from the Personal Cellar of Robert Drouhin sale held by Sotheby's in New York in October 2018 set a new record for any bottle of wine at auction when a bottle of Romanée Conti 1945 sold for US$558,000. Sotheby's also holds the world record for any wine lot at auction – the Romanée-Conti Superlot (114 bottles) which sold for HK$12,556,250 (US$1,609,776) at Sotheby's Hong Kong in October 2014.

In March 2018, Sotheby's set a world record for any wine sales series when a two-day series of auctions in Hong Kong brought a combined total of HK$228,300,300 / US$29,090,025. Comprising 1,758 lots, The Philanthropist's Cellar, The Cellar from the Estate of Jerry Perenchio, and Finest & Rarest Wines were 100% sold.

In May 2016, Wines from the Cellar of William I. Koch totaled US$21.9 million (HK$169.6 million), which set a record for a wine collection sold at auction.

About Sotheby's
Sotheby's has been uniting collectors with world-class works of art since 1744. Sotheby's became the first international auction house when it expanded from London to New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973), India (1992) and France (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). Today, Sotheby's presents auctions in 10 different salesrooms, including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris, and Sotheby's BidNow program allows visitors to view all auctions live online and place bids from anywhere in the world. Sotheby's offers collectors the resources of Sotheby's Financial Services, the world's only full-service art financing company, as well as the collection, artist, estate & foundation advisory services of its subsidiary, Art Agency, Partners. Sotheby's presents private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories, including S|2, the gallery arm of Sotheby's Global Fine Art Division, and three retail businesses: Sotheby's Wine, Sotheby's Diamonds, and Sotheby's Home, the online marketplace for interior design. Sotheby's has a global network of 80 offices in 40 countries and is the oldest company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (BID).

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