China's graft crackdown can't slow Hong Kong wine sales

Beijing's crackdown on official gift-giving and lavish banquets has failed to dampen Hong Kong's enthusiasm for vintage wine, with Sotheby's reporting that the city was its most lucrative sales venue again last year.

The auction house's Hong Kong sales reached US$28.8 million, up 13 per cent year on year and representing 44 per cent of its global sales of US$65.3 million. London ranked second while New York, where takings rose 23 per cent, ranked third.

Mainland cadres and tycoons were long thought to be a driving force behind Hong Kong's dramatic rise as a wine market, and President Xi Jinping's crackdown on official extravagance has been cited as a factor in falling sales of other luxury goods in the city.

"The continued resurgence of the US market meant that Asian buyers were less dominant last year although they still account for over half of the global sales," said Jamie Ritchie, CEO and president of Sotheby's Wine for the Americas and Asia.

Wines from Bordeaux were the biggest sellers, representing 52 per cent of sales.

But Lafite, a favourite with Chinese buyers, slipped by one position to third in Sotheby's ranking of wine brands. Only HK$37 million worth of Lafite was sold last year, 10 per cent down on 2013.