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Finer Things
The Wine Auction Heard Around the World: Buyers in Southern California and Hong Kong Bid on Two Stellar Collections
By Staff Writer
Excitement was high already at the auction house Spectrum after the stunning success last summer of their inaugural live auction, and continued successful online auctions all year. They recently capped off with a global event recently that took place simultaneously in two luxury locations: one at Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale's South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California, and at Crown Wine Cellars in Hong Kong.
As Spectrum Wine Auction Director Mario Sculatti put it: "The plan for the auction was the first in the wine world: to connect Hong Kong and California in a real-time live video exchange - bridging 7300 miles across the Pacific Ocean - so bidding paddles were literally waved at each other across the world! We wanted all the bidders in each auction to feel like their counterparts were sitting in the room next to them."
The auction presented more than 850 lots, including collections of two anchor consignors: The Aubrey McClendon Collection Part II and The Historic Collection of Dr. George Primbs. It was representative of the grand tradition of decades of auction excellence fostered by its founding company, Spectrum Group International, Inc.
CEO Greg Roberts emphasized that the two principal consignors for this auction represent two ends of the spectrum: the first was voracious collector Aubrey McClendon, one of the greatest American wine collectors and co-founder and CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) in 1989, one of the largest US natural gas producers.
Aubrey is known as being able to "cut to the core of what's important in collecting. He collects the best vintages in depth of cases and large format sizes, approaching his collecting seriously and methodically without being tempted by lesser vintages." Wines from McClendon's vast collection formed the backbone of Spectrum's 2009 auction, which brought in nearly $3.5 million overall with 100% of lots sold.
On the other hand, Santa Barbara resident, community leader and winemaker Dr. George Primbs has quietly been collecting wine for half a century. Dr. Primbs, co-founder and chairman of the board of Surgical Eye Expeditions (SEE), a charitable organization that provides worldwide medical, surgical, and educational services through volunteer ophthalmic surgeons has a long list of distinguished positions.
Dr. Primbs' love of wine began in North Africa, when he performed charity surgery there. He recalls, "For my surgery the Europeans gave me wine for payment in gratitude, albeit unsolicited by me." He began collecting in 1959. "Once you become a collector, you seek more and more. It's human nature to acquire those things you value and now I call them my Liquid Assets to share with friends. Dr. Primbs plans to use some of the proceeds realized from the sale to conduct diabetes research.
According to Sculatti, "From lot number one all the way through to number 686, the auction was a battle to procure the best of the best wines. Bidding started fiercely for one of the most coveted of the First Growth Bordeaux, Lafite-Rothschild.
Casually elegant, young Valley resident Amanda Keston, Spectrum's director of client services and part-time auctioneer, has been bullish about the Spring Auction from it's inception. "The wine-auction market has turned the corner both with interest from American and particularly Asian collections," she insisted during a preview of the wines at the popular Porto Via Wine Bar in Beverly Hills. In fact, Hong Kong has recently overtaken London as the world's second largest auction market, she added.
"Our goal is to keep the auctions lively and exciting," she continued. "We combine the thrill of the sale with entertainment and education, and we have been known to pour endless bottles of champagne and even some bottles of Lafite, Latour, and Haut-Brion, to make it a celebration."
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