Wine expert wins defamation case

Following on from today's university lecture on defamation and libel, I stumbled across an interesting article from yesterdays guardian online news page.

The case involves one of the worlds top wine dealers, a Paris wine cellar, Thomas Jefferson, and the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold.

Apart from sounding like a synopsis from the latest Dan Brown novel, the case has had significant impact on defamation cases as a whole.

The story begins 24 years ago, a bottle of 1787 Lafite was sold in London for a staggering £105,000. It remains the biggest sum ever paid for a single bottle of wine and much of the value is down to the initials 'TH.J' printed on the side of the bottle which, it was claimed, meant it belonged to the third president of the US Thomas Jefferson.

Michael Broadbent, the man who authenticated the wine and presided over the auctions for the bottles won and apology and substantial damages from the publisher Random House over a bestselling book, which, he argued, had suggested he had sold the wine knowing its provenance to be suspect.

The book brilliantly entitled 'The Billionaire's Vinegar' by Benjamin Wallace outlines the case of the so called 'Jefferson Bottles' and because of the ruling in the case must now be removed from British bookshelves.

Now in relation to what we studied in lecture today, it is clear that this defamation case was successful because the book can be seen as discrediting Broadbent in his profession.

While Michael Broadbent has retired as the senior director of Christie's wine department he remains, according to Adam Lechmere, editor of decanter.com, "among the top three most respected wine critics in the world".

Broadbent's lawyer Sarah Webb said he had been forced to take action because the book suggested he had acted "at best unprofessionally, at worst dishonestly".

This case is interesting because it still has as yet to be proven whether the Jefferson bottles are actually genuine.

In response to the ruling Benjamin Wallace told the Guardian: "I have never felt that Mr Broadbent acted in bad faith, and contrary to his claims, I maintain that The Billionaire's Vinegar does not suggest that he did."