Christie’s Hong Kong has wrapped up Iconic Wines from Joseph Lau Part V – The Final Part, with all 130 lots selling for a total of nearly HK$36.9 million (US$4.7 million).
The top lot was six bottles of Henri Jayer’s 1995 Vosne‑Romanée Cros Parantoux, which realised HK$1.31 million (US$167,500) with fees, nearly three times its low estimate.
The sale brings to a close a series that began in 2022, showcasing the cellar of Hong Kong property tycoon Joseph Lau. Across five dedicated auctions, the collection has achieved close to HK$275 million (US$35.3 million), making it the most valuable single‑owner wine collection ever sold at Christie’s worldwide.
Joseph Lau and his wife, Kimbee Chan
Lot 5078 | Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux 1995, 6 bottles (owc)
Estimate: HK$480,000 - 650,000
Sold: HK$1,312,500
Lot 5090 | Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux 2000, 3 magnums (owc)
Estimate: HK$480,000 - 650,000
Sold: HK$1,187,500
Lot 5104 | Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux 2001, 2 magnums (owc)
Estimate: HK$600,000 - 850,000
Sold: HK$1,062,500
The sale’s top three lots were all Henri Jayer Vosne‑Romanée Cros Parantoux. Six bottles of the 1995 vintage led the auction, followed by three magnums of the 2000 and two magnums of the 2001, with each lot clearing HK$1 million.
Henri Jayer is one of the most revered names in the world of Burgundy, known for wines with remarkable intensity and complexity. Starting his career in 1945, he developed an extraordinary sensitivity to Pinot Noir, crafting wines that rival even the most celebrated Grand Crus from Domaine de la Romanée‑Conti.
Cros Parantoux is among his most emblematic cuvées, alongside Richebourg and Échezeaux. The vineyard itself is tiny, covering just 1.01 hectares in Vosne‑Romanée. Its high elevation and east-facing exposure create a cooler microclimate, which leads to slower ripening and better retention of acidity – qualities that give the wine both structure and longevity.
Legendary winemaker Henri Jayer
The revival of Cros Parantoux after the war is largely credited to Jayer. Beginning in the 1950s, he gradually acquired small parcels from local owners and replanted them with Pinot Noir. He believed great wine began in the vineyard – so much so that he was known to remove stones from the soil by hand.
The same level of care extended to the cellar. To maximise fruit concentration and flavour, Jayer insisted on 100% destemming, followed by a cold soak at around 15°C for four to five days before fermentation. He relied entirely on wild yeasts and avoided filtration, preserving each vintage’s layered texture and complexity.
Cros Parantoux
Part of Jayer’s genius lay in his timing. Pinot Noir can quickly lose its nuance if harvested too late, but Jayer had an exceptional ability to judge the exact moment when the fruit had reached full ripeness while still retaining freshness.
To concentrate flavour, he deliberately kept yields low, reducing the number of grape clusters on each vine and often producing only half as much as neighbouring plots of the same size.
That scarcity has only grown more pronounced since Jayer’s death in 2006 at the age of 84. With production always limited, every bottle opened today is one fewer left in existence – further contributing to the wines’ value.
Joesph Lau, 74, is one of Hong Kong’s best-known billionaires. Forbes currently estimates his net worth at US$14.2 billion, much of it tied to property through his family’s holdings and a controlling stake in Chinese Estates Holdings. The company has faced pressure amid a wider real-estate downturn, reporting a loss last year as the value of its investment properties declined.
Lau is also known as a collector with wide-ranging tastes, spanning Western art and Chinese antiquities to diamonds, handbags and wine. In 2015, he bought a 12-carat blue diamond for US$49 million and renamed it the Blue Moon of Josephine after his daughter.
Notably, with the exception of Part IV, every auction in the series was led by bottles of Henri Jayer’s Cros Parantoux. Many of Lau’s bottles from the 1990s through 2001 were originally acquired at Christie’s landmark 2012 sale, Fine and Rare Wines from the Private Cellar of Henri Jayer.
Top Lots from Part I:
Lot 75 | Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux 1991, 12 bottles
Estimate: HK$1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold: HK$3,875,000
Lot 89 | Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux 1999, 6 bottles
Estimate: HK$600,000 - 900,000
Sold: HK$3,250,000
Lot 86 | Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux 1996, 6 bottles
Estimate: HK$550,000 - 800,000
Sold: HK$2,750,000
Top Lots from Part II:
Lot 5058 | Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux 1993, 9 bottles
Estimate: HK$800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold: HK$3,250,000
Lot 5087 | Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux 1996, 6 bottles
Estimate: HK$550,000 - 800,000
Sold: HK$2,625,000
Lot 5088 | Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux 1996, 6 bottles
Estimate: HK$550,000 - 800,000
Sold: HK$2,625,000
Top Lots from Part III:
Lot 151 | Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux 1999, 10 bottles (cc)
Estimate: HK$950,000 - 1,400,000
Sold: HK$3,250,000
Lot 140 | Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux 1993, 6 bottles (owc)
Estimate: HK$480,000 - 650,000
Sold: HK$2,500,000
Lot 181 | Domaine d'Auvenay, Chevalier-Montrachet 1997, 12 bottles (owc)
Estimate: HK$850,000 - 1,200,000
Sold: HK$2,500,000
Top Lots from Part IV:
Lot 5077 | Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée-Conti 2002, 6 bottles (owc)
Estimate: HK$650,000 - 900,000
Sold: HK$1,375,000
Lot 5073 | Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée-Conti 1995, 5 bottles (owc)
Estimate: HK$500,000 - 700,000
Sold: HK$1,250,000
Lot 5123 | Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux 2001, 3 magnums (owc)
Estimate: HK$900,000 - 1,300,000
Sold: HK$1,250,000
Auction Details:
Auction House: Christie's Hong Kong
Sale: Iconic Wines from Joseph Lau Part V - The Final Part
Date: 22 May 2026
Number of Lots: 130
Sold: 130
Sale Rate: 100%
Sale Total: HK$36,851,250 (US$4.7 million)