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WilliamKoch

Jefferson Bottles Lawsuit Tossed Out

Filed under: Wine, Auctions

Another twist in the Thomas Jefferson wine bottles case, or rather the alleged Jefferson bottles wine case. Decanter reports that a federal judge in New York City has dismissed wine collector William Koch's fraud lawsuit against the German dealer Hardy Rodenstock. The judge dismissed the case saying that the court lacked 'personal jurisdiction' over the defendant. Koch, who also has at least one other lawsuit regarding wine fraud in the works, isn;t ready to give up yet. His spokesperson has said that Koch will strengthen his suit's jurisdiction argument and refile. Rodenstock, a wine dealer, has been accused of fraud by saying that the bottles of old Bordeaux which Koch bought belonged to Jefferson. In the lawsuit Koch said he relied on Rodenstock's information on provenance. Koch also says that Rodenstock may have played a role in engraving the initials ' Th.J.' on the bottles.

William Koch Alleges Another Wine Fraud

Filed under: Wine, Auctions

I just mentioned him yesterday and now William Koch, the deep-pocketed wine collector who made news earlier this year when he sued German collector Hardy Rodenstock over wines owned by Thomas Jefferson that proved to be counterfeit, is on the warpath again. The Wall Street Journal reports that Koch filed a lawsuit in New York City in regards to a 2005 Zachys auction where he spent $3.7 million on what he thought were rare Bordeaux wines but later turned out to be fake. He says he was led to buy the wine by the collector, Eric Greenberg, who allegedly knew that some of the bottles were fakes because he had already commissioned the head of Christie's wine department and another wine expert to check them out. The suit also says that Greenberg himself had received a settlement from the wine merchant who had sold him the wines. The lawsuit doesn't says that Zachys knew the wine was counterfeit.

Decanter also reports that Eric Greenberg was the consignor behind Acker Merrall & Condit's recent "The Man With the Golden Cellar" auction which brought in $15,563,359. Greenberg's lawyer says the lawsuit charges are false and the Greenberg would never sell wine he knew to be counterfeit. Still, the buyers from that most recent auction have to be a bit unnerved.


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