Biography
George Lacey initially joined Sotheby’s in February 2021 in London, as the Head of Sales for the UK Wine department, before moving to Hong Kong in November 2022 to take on his current role as Head of Wine, Asia. During his time with Sotheby’s on New Bond Street, he oversaw the department’s first consecutive “White Glove” single-owner sales for more than 5 years, with “Icons Only” and “Four Centuries of Progress | Direct From Lynch-Bages”, which respectively achieved 207% and 180% of their estimates, the best results for wine in London since 2019. In this period, George also delivered a six-fold increase in the number of single-owner auctions offered in the UK. Having performed professionally throughout the world as a tenor and organist prior to his career in wine, George brings his flair for performance to the Sotheby’s rostrum as an accomplished auctioneer, and has been involved in setting numerous world-record auction prices, including the highest price paid at auction for a bottle of the legendary 1945 Mouton-Rothschild, as well as brokering the deal for the Pièce des Présidents at the 2021 Hospices de Beaune auction, setting a world-record price at the time for any barrel of wine sold in the Hospices’ history (US$900,000).
George cut his teeth in the wine world whilst studying Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where his Organ Scholarship curiously but fortuitously allowed him access to his College’s (well-stocked) cellar. Having subsequently worked in diverse environments from quantum physics research, to private equity, and as a professional classical musician, he eventually saw the light and joined the wine trade. Prior to his time at Sotheby’s, George spent four years in Singapore as the head of Berry Bros. & Rudd’s Southeast Asia business, before which he worked as a Wine Educator in their St James’s headquarters. Having worked in various roles in the fine wine industry in both London and Asia, with many of the industry’s most respected names, George brings a proven track record in sales and relationship management from across all four corners of the wine world, and considerable experience in managing some of the world’s most highly-regarded collections.
Particularly passionate about the wines of Germany, Austria and Burgundy, he believes that wine collecting is fundamentally about sharing and community, and that generosity, people, and fun are the three things that are most central to the enjoyment of wine. He loves nothing more than sharing great bottles with like-minded wine lovers the world over, whether they be from the most coveted, established domaines, or emerging and as-yet-undiscovered gems.
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