Chrisite's Accused of Selling Counterfeit Wine

Bruce Golding writing for the New York Post states that  billionaire wine collector William Koch is suing Christie's for selling counterfeit wine.  The suit is not just about a few bottles, although some of the bottles Koch purchased were supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson, but a full conspiracy to defraud.

Collectible wines has become a very important market sector for many auction houses, from the major international houses to smaller regional firms.

Many publications are picking up on the story including the Wine Spectator. Christie's of course denies the claim.

Golding reports

Koch's Manhattan federal court suit seeks unspecified damages, along with an injunction barring Christie's from selling any pre-1962 wine "without first obtaining the opinion of an independent qualified expert" saying it's legit.
The filing is the latest in a string of pending legal actions launched by Koch since he began probing the provenance of his own four bottles of "Th.J" wine -- which he bought in 1988 from The Chicago Wine Company -- in connection with a 2005 plan to exhibit them at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.
The suit says Koch's suspicions were confirmed with the help of 10 "confidential" witnesses, including former Christie's employees and German glass workers who said they engraved bottles for the source of the purported Jefferson wines, Hardy Rodenstock.
Koch, whose yacht won the 1992 America's Cup race, claims Christie's knew that Rodenstock's bottles couldn't be tied to the Founding Father, but auctioned them off to get a 25 percent cut.

To read the full article, click HERE.