German wine wheeler-dealer Hardy Rodenstock is a slippery fraudster who has probably sold many faked wines to many sophisticated buyers. Though he has settled out of court on at least one occasion and he has had legal action taken against him in the United States, he's never actually been nailed.

He's been the subject of numerous investigations, magazine and newspaper articles, and a book called The Billionaire's Vinegar. Originally published in America in 2008, it was not released in Britain. However copies have been sold there and so respected London critic Michael Broadbent has filed suit against the publishers. Broadbent "contends that he was falsely depicted in the book as being complicit in a crime. But his suit makes no claims one way or another regarding the authenticity of the wines that he sold, which can be taken as an acknowledgment that the evidence is not in his favor," says Slate.com's Mike Steinberger.

Rodenstock has had a long association with Michael Broadbent (pictured) who has tasted, authenticated and auctioned off Rodenstock's wines, including, most damningly, the so called "Th. J." bottles. These were bottles of Bordeaux purported to have been owned by Thomas Jefferson but proven to be a fraud when a disgruntled American buyer dug deeper.

Read this article by Mike Steinberger for the latest on the ongoing scandal at the very apex of the world of fine wine...

Read this article in Decanter to hear the outcome of the UK lawsuit, which includes an interesting comment from the book's author.