HONG KONG: Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau is selling another wine collection with an estimated value exceeding HK$35 million ($5.8 million) in an auction by Christie’s next week.
Lau is offering more than 200 lots of fine wine, including rarities from revered producer Henri Jayer, vintages from Petrus and selections from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, as part of Christie’s Hong Kong Luxury Week.
The most expensive lot, 10 bottles of Henri Jayer’s Vosne-Romanée Cros-Parantoux, could fetch as much as HK$1.4 million, while the biggest price tag per bottle could go north of HK$300,000, according to estimates from Christie’s.
The auction will take place on May 22.
This is the third time Lau is selling his wine collection with Christie’s, after two successful sessions in 2022 yielded US$16 million (S$20.7 million) combined. Some of the lots in previous auctions were sold at more than double of the high estimates.
Lau is a well-known collector and seller in the auction world.
The auction “offers collectors another rare chance to acquire sought-after wines”, Christie’s said in a statement.
Lau, 73, has a net worth of about US$5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His fortune is mainly derived from his and his family’s ownership of commercial properties, and a stake in Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd.
Lau’s property business has been caught in a sector downturn in the Asian financial hub.
The tycoon was convicted of bribery and money laundering in Macau in 2014, but has never served jail time with no extradition pact between the territory and Hong Kong. - Bloomberg
