HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s today broke the world auction record1 for the most expensive wine lot when it sold the Romanée-Conti Superlot for HK$12,556,250 / US$1,609,776. The price achieved per bottle of the 114-bottle Superlot was HK$110,143 / US$14,121, which equals HK$13,768 / US$1,700 per glass for 912 glasses.

On the first day of Sotheby’s Hong Kong Autumn Sales Series 2014, the wine sale Finest & Rarest Wines Including Henri Jayer Magnums from the Exceptional Cellar of James H. Clark & The Romanée Conti Superlot fetched HK$45.7 million / US$5.9 million (in excess of overall estimate of HK$35 million / US$4.5 million*). 96% of lots sold with 50% of lots selling over their high estimate. The sale saw strong demand for benchmark burgundies among Asian buyers.

Robert Sleigh, Head of Sotheby’s Wine, Asia, commented, “The Romanée-Conti Superlot presented a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity to acquire an unprecedented quantity of the world's most desirable wine. It is only fitting that it has broken the world record to become the most valuable single wine lot ever sold at auction at HK$12,556,250 / US$1,609,776.”

The 66-magnum Henri Jayer selection from the cellar of Netscape founder James H. Clark achieves a 100% sell- through rate fetching HK$8,207,500 / US$1,052,244 at the high end of pre-sale expectations (HK$8.8 million / US$1.12 million*). Top lot from the Henri Jayer selection is the six-magnum Vosne-Romanée, Cros Parantoux 1990 which sold for HK$1,163,750 / US$149,199.

Jamie Ritchie, Sotheby’s Wine CEO & President, Americas & Asia, said, “The 66 very rare Henri Jayer magnums from Netscape founder James H. Clark’s exceptional cellar, brought significant demand from bidders in Asia and the Americas, who spent HK$8.2 million / US$1.1 million, averaging HK$125,000 / US$16,000 per magnum. The next part of the James H. Clark cellar, featuring the greatest collection of Italian and Rhone wines we have ever offered, will be sold 15 November in New York.”