Tycoons William Koch and Eric Greenberg fight battle over fake wine
Collector William Koch turns his battle with Eric Greenberg into a US federal case - one that has cost both sides a total of US$14 million
When most people get a bad bottle of wine, they send it back.
When billionaire US collector William Koch concluded the vintage wines he bought at auction were counterfeit, he made a federal court case out of it, that has so far cost both sides a total of US$14 million.
A court battle this week between Koch and Eric Greenberg, the fellow billionaire who sold him the wine, is again shining a light on the world of top-end wine sales.
It follows allegations of fake wine that cast a shadow over a HK$48 million sale by former Hong Kong financial secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen this month.
Koch purchased what he thought were French wines from the Bordeaux and Burgundy regions, some dating to Napoleonic times, he alleged in a 2007 complaint filed in federal court in New York. He claimed that Greenberg, who had consigned the wines, defrauded him.
Koch initially said 36 bottles that he bought at New York-based Zachys Wine & Liquor in 2004 and 2005 for about US$500,000 were counterfeit. Last week, he pared back his claims to 24 bottles for which he spent about US$350,000.
While Koch, the founder of Oxbow Carbon & Minerals, has filed other lawsuits over alleged counterfeit wine sales, the case against Greenberg, founder and chairman emeritus of internet firm Scient, is the first to go to trial, with opening arguments scheduled yesterday.