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Broadbent to sue US publisher for defamation
Wine critic Michael Broadbent is suing US publisher Random House for defamatory allegations in The Billionaire’s Vinegar: The Mystery Of The World’s Most Expensive Bottle Of Wine.
Broadbent, who launched Christie’s wine department in 1966, is outraged at the book’s suggestion that he invented a bid to ensure the winning bidder paid more than was necessary.
The story, by US author Benjamin Wallace, centres on a stash of wine, apparently owned by America’s third President, Thomas Jefferson, found bricked up in a Paris cellar.
One bottle from the find, a 1787 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, was auctioned by Broadbent in 1985 to the billionaire publisher Malcolm Forbes for a then record of £105,000.
Broadbent, aged 82, claims the book suggests he invented a bid for another of the Jefferson wines – a half-bottle of 1784 Margaux – to ensure the winning bidder paid over the odds.
Although Broadbent’s lawyer has served a writ in the US, she is suing Random House for libel in Britain as the book has sold around 2,000 copies in the UK.
Patrick Schmitt, 23.07.2009