The Acker auction in Hong Kong last weekend sold just over 90 per cent of its lots, bringing in a total of £5.6 million. Although several super lots set new records, the overall results were unremarkable.
The First Growths fetched slightly higher prices at Acker than they did at the Sotheby's sale in Hong Kong on the 14th. Buyers shelled out an average of six per cent more than the Liv-ex Mid Price (our trade-to-trade transaction price) for post-millennial vintages of the Firsts – if we include a buyer's premium of 22 per cent. From a seller's point of view, however, the results were disappointing. On average, hammer prices were 13 per cent below market, with some wines selling for significantly less than their current trading prices.
All prices have been converted to GBP and are for 12x75cl cases. BP=Buyer's Premium
But what of Bordeaux's second-line wines, which outpaced their higher-ranking peers in the latter half of 2011? In general, demand for the Super Seconds and Flying Fifths was subdued. As you can see from the table below, Montrose 2003 was the best performer, while Leoville Las Cases failed to inspire Asian bidders. The brand's 2006 vintage fell under the hammer at a 42 per cent discount to its market value.
All prices are for 12x75cl cases.
DRC's performance is somewhat open to interpretation. On the plus side, buyer's were willing to part with up to 28 per cent more than the Liv-ex Mid Price for younger vintages. Conversely, if we remove the buyer's premium, vintages from 1995 onwards sold for an average of 11 per cent less than their current market price – bad news, of course, for the sellers.
