Composer SIR Andrew Lloyd Webber is delighted after selling his wine collection for $5.3 million (£3.5 million) at auction on Saturday (22Jan11).
Over 740 lots went under the hammer in the six-hour sale in Hong Kong, with the most expensive case of wine, a Chateau Petrus 1982, fetching $77,564 (£48,500) for 12 bottles.
The theatre impresario, who has been collecting wine since he was a teenager, had run out of room to store them.
He says, "I hope the new owners enjoy my wines as much as I have and I look forward to reacquainting myself with them in restaurants all over China."
Serena Sutcliffe, Sotheby's worldwide head of wine, adds: "It's a great collection and an obvious one for Hong Kong because there is a great love of French wines such as Bordeaux and Burgundy. It happens to be a category appreciated so much in this region."