Koch’s Jefferson lawsuit thrown out of court

Bad news this week for billionaire wine collector William Koch, who has lost his bid to reinstate a lawsuit against Christie’s that claimed the auction house “induced” him to buy counterfeit wine. As reported on db.com, the US Court of Appeals in Manhattan last week upheld a 2011 ruling by US district judge Barbara Jones dismissing Koch’s suit after finding that he waited too long to sue, agreeing that the statute of limitations had expired.

“For wine, timing is critical, the same is true for causes of action,” said US district judge John Koeltl, who was sitting on the appeals court for the case. “I’m very disappointed by the decision. The appeals judges dismissed the case for a technicality, although we know they got a lot of the facts wrong, but they’re the ones who decide what the facts are,” Koch said. “Christie’s got away with an incredible hoax,” Brad Goldstein, a Koch spokesman, told Bloomberg. Koch filed a lawsuit against Christie’s in Manhattan in 2010, claiming the London-based auction house had sold him counterfeit wine “for many years.”

Koch also said that Christie’s had “induced” him to buy four bottles of 1787 Château Lafite engraved “Th.J” that had purportedly belonged to American President Thomas Jefferson from German wine dealer Hardy Rodenstock in 1987 because Christie’s described the wines “positively” in auction catalogs during the 1980s. The wines were allegedly discovered in the mid-‘80s when Rodenstock claimed to have found a cache in a bricked-up cellar in Paris. Koch had the bottles tested in October 2000.

One of the purportedly fake Jefferson bottles

In dismissing the case last year, Jones said Koch knew the bottles were counterfeit and that he bought the wine out of a “desire to gather evidence against Christie’s.” Jonathan Lerner, a lawyer for Christie’s, told Bloomberg: “Today’s court ruling was clearly correct, Koch’s claims turned to vinegar a long time ago. The only hoax in this case was the allegation in the complaint that ‘no credible question’ had been raised about the wine until shortly before the complaint was filed.”

Koch should have made inquiries about the wine by October 2000, when a report was issued about its authenticity, the appeals court said. He filed his suit in 2010. A historian at Monticello, Jefferson’s former home in Virginia, issued a report in December 1985 that determined “no solid connecting evidence could be found between Jefferson and the Th.J wine.” While the report didn’t become public at the time, newspapers including the New York Times published articles saying there was “scholarly doubt” about the authenticity of the wine. Koch has previously sued Rodenstock and American auction houses Zachy’s and Acker Merrall & Condit for fraud.

Brad Pitt to star in The Billionaire’s Vinegar

Hollywood heartthrob Brad Pitt is to star in a film adaptation of The Billionaire’s Vinegar, a book by Benjamin Wallace on the fake Thomas Jefferson bottles affair.  As reported on db.com, the film, slated to hit cinemas this year, has been co-produced by actor Will Smith, who bought the rights to the book as part of a Hollywood consortium.

Produced by Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Sony Pictures, The Billionaire’s Vinegar is directed by David Keopp, who has worked on blockbusters such as Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible, Spider-Man and War of the Worlds. He also wrote the script for Men In Black III, starring Will Smith in the lead role. David Bloomfield, who produced The Fighter, Seven Pounds and Thank You For Smoking, is the executive producer.

The court case surrounding the counterfeit Jefferson bottles continues. Last week, Wine and the City reported that billionaire William Koch has asked a US appeals court to revive the lawsuit against auction house Christie’s for assisting the sale of fake bottles of 1787 Lafite belonging to American President Thomas Jefferson. In 1987, Koch bought four bottles of 1787 Château Lafite engraved “Th.J” that were sold to him by wine dealer Hardy Rodenstock for US$500,000.

The court has yet to issue a ruling, but will give a written opinion at a later date. This is not the first time wine has appeared on the silver screen – Pinot Noir was eulogised and Merlot derided in the 2004 cult comedy Sideways, starring Paul Giamatti, adapted from Rex Pickett’s novel of the same name.

In 2006, Gladiator director Ridley Scott swapped swords for pruning sheers in his Provence-based romantic comedy A Good Year, starring Russell Crowe. The same year saw the release of Bottle Shock, a comedy-drama based on the iconic 1976 Judgment of Paris blind tasting, starring Alan Rickman in the role of wine writer and former merchant Steven Spurrier.

Koch to revive fake Jefferson wine case

Billionaire William Koch has asked a US appeals court to revive a lawsuit against Christie’s in which he accused the auction house of fraud over the sale of wines allegedly owned by third American President Thomas Jefferson. As reported on db.com, on Wednesday, a federal appeals court panel in New York questioned whether Koch had conducted timely due diligence when doubts were raised about four bottles of 1787 Château Lafite engraved "Th.J" that were sold to him in 1987 by German wine dealer Hardy Rodenstock for $500,000.

US district judge Barbara Jones threw out Koch’s lawsuit against Christie’s last March, ruling that his claim of fraudulent concealment was barred by the statute of limitations – an enactment that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated. Koch, the founder of Oxbow Group energy company, appealed the decision, saying that Rodenstock and the long time head of Christie's wine department, Michael Broadbent, were associates in the purported fraud.

Christie's fought the lawsuit, arguing that Koch falsely claimed he did not learn about credible issues of the authenticity of the wine until 2005. Much of the questioning focused on the statute of limitations and the timeliness of Koch's investigations into the wine. Koch, who is worth US$4 billion according to Forbes magazine, sued Christie's on the grounds that it had agreed to promote Rodenstock's reputation and sell his wines.

The lawsuit also said Christie's had lobbied The Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello – Jefferson’s former home in Virginia, to vouch for the wine. The appeals court heard that a 1985 report by Monticello had raised doubts about the provenance of the wine and that there had been articles in the wine press in the early ‘90s reporting that no one had proven the wines were Jefferson's.

Koch's lawyer argued that the lawsuit should be allowed because more details had been revealed in a Monticello report from 2005, including the fact that Jefferson ordered an entire year's supply of wine in a single purchase. The orders from 1787 to 1792 were intact and none reflected purchases of the "Th.J" wine. The court did not immediately issue a ruling, but will give a written opinion at a later date. Koch has previously sued American auction houses Zachy’s and Acker Merrall & Condit, and German wine dealer Hardy Rodenstock for fraud.