Singapore Doc Nets $3.8 Million From Fine Wine: What It Tells You About Asia's Rich

(Forbes) - As the hammer came down on Christie’s wine auction in Hong Kong recently, Singapore kidney specialist Dr. Gordon Ku netted a cool $ 3.8 million from his fine wine collection.

Dr. Ku had auctioned only about half his collection of 15,000 bottles that he stores in 3 cellars at home. The rest he keeps in commercial cellars. He sold his lot of Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru 2001 Cros-Parantoux for $55,000, much higher than the estimated range of $33,000- 49,000. The sell-through rate at the auction was 96% by lot and 97% by value.

A few months ago, Hong Kong tycoon Henry Tang sold “a small portion” of his fine Burgundy wines for $6.2 million at nearly double the pre-sale estimate of $3.74, with a 100% sell-through rate in value and lot.

The two auctions have put the spotlight on how Asia’s affluence is fueling not just the prices of stocks and property but of wines, art, vintage watches and other collectibles (more on that in another post).

Single-owner auctions like that of Dr. Ku and Henry Tang were unheard of in Asia earlier. These two were the only ones held by Christie’s in Hong Kong for Asian consignors. Most collectors keep their profiles private. Dr. Ku has been collecting wine for 40 years. Henry Tang boasted that he had “enough wine to last two, three, maybe four lifetimes.” Sophisticated Chinese investors like these are now looking to cash in on the strong interest in wines.