Broadbent awarded damages for defamation

Wine critic Michael Broadbent has been awarded damages by US publisher Random House after suing for defamatory allegations in The Billionaire’s Vinegar: The Mystery Of The World’s Most Expensive Bottle Of Wine.

Commenting on the settlement Sarah Webb, head of defamation at Russell Jones & Walker, who acted for Broadbent, said: “My client is relieved that the good name he has built up over many years as one of the country’s leading wine experts has been fully restored”.

Broadbent, who launched Christie’s wine department in 1966, was 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, claimed 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.

In a statement read out in open court yesterday, Random House apologised unreservedly for making the allegations and accepted that they were untrue. It has given an undertaking not to repeat the allegations and paid Broadbent undisclosed damages.  

Random House has said it will no longer distribute the book – which has already sold 2,000 copies – in its current form in the UK. 

“The Billionaire’s Vinegar made highly damaging claims about my client that seriously compromised both his professional and personal reputation,” said Webb. 

“We are delighted that Random House has today accepted that these allegations are totally without foundation and avoided the need to proceed to a full trial,” she added.

Patrick Schmitt, 15.10.09