Global auction house Sotheby's is expanding its wine retail business to Hong Kong, shrugging off concerns about slower demand for top Bordeaux in Mainland China.
Sotheby's this week opened its first Hong Kong retail store, containing a broad selection of fine wines, including a 12-litre bottle of Haut-Brion 2000 that is priced at HK$280,000.
The move is an extension of the Sotheby's retail business in New York and builds on strong auction success for the firm in Hong Kong. It has sold HK$1.4bn (US$184m) of wines there in the past four years.
Rival auction house Zachys has also been working to improve its retail business in Hong Kong, in recognition that a growing number of Asia-based wine buyers want to acquire their cases without going through a bidding process.
‘We have seen significant demand from buyers wanting to buy wines of the same quality [as in auctions] with the same high level of service, but at a fixed price and available for next day delivery,’ said Jamie Ritchie, president and chief executive of Sotheby's wine division for the Americas and Asia.
The push into retail comes amid weaker demand for fine wine in Mainland China, and particularly for top Bordeaux, due to the government’s ongoing austerity measures.
But, Ritchie told DecanterChina.com that he was undeterred. ‘Asia remains the most important wine market in world and still has the greatest potential for growth,’ he said.
‘Our retail business has been very successful in New York and we believe that our Hong Kong retail business gives us a great opportunity to offer a more diverse range of wines to a wider group of clients who trust buying from Sotheby’s.’
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