2010, an excellent year...for fine wine auctions

Wine auctioneers in London achieved record sales in 2010 mainly thanks to a strong demand from Asian buyers.

Sotheby’s sold almost $21m (£13.5m) of wines in London last year. Hong Kong eclipsed London with sales above $52m.

Serena Sutcliffe, head of Sotheby’s worldwide wine department, confirmed  the great Bordeaux wines such as Chateau Lafite and Chateau Latour are in highest demand, mainly due to their reputation and better understanding of the 1855 classification from Chinese buyers.

David Elswood, international head of wine sales Chistie’s confirmed that worldwide wine sales rise by 40 per cent in 2010. Elswood said, “it’s the buying time power of individuals [from Asia] that’s really driving the price of wine worldwide. What has been happening is they turn up at auctions and just keep bidding everyone  else stops.”

Bonhams sold a single bottle of Chateau Lafite 1982 for £2,875 last December. The auction house is also on the same page than many wines professionals and our team by predicting a stronger demand for Chateau Mouton Rothschild.

Source: Financial Times, Boltons Wine Investment, January 2011