Secret of former chief secretary Henry Tang's wine cellar remains bottled up
After illegal basement scandal during election, auctioneer refuses to disclose the location of former chief secretary's fine wine collection
A wine expert given a rare glimpse inside former chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen's wine cellar is remaining tight-lipped about its location.
The question of where Tang stored the 810 lots that went under the hammer at Christie's this week is an intriguing one.
His campaign for chief executive was wrecked last year when it was revealed he had a huge illegal basement under his Kowloon Tong home, featuring among other things - a wine cellar.
Without saying if he had been to the Kowloon Tong site, Simon Tam, head of wine in China for Christie's auction house, said Tang's wine was stored in a "handsome cellar".
The 810 lots that went under the hammer in the two-day auction represent just a fraction of Tang's collection, amassed over 30 years.
"From these wines, I see how his collection changed with him over 30 years of passion for wine," said Tam. "Some of these wines were bought in small villages, so tiny you would need to scrutinise a map to find them. The collection represents Tang's personal taste."