Wine Advocate sues its own writer for fraud and defamation

The former California correspondent for The Wine Advocate (TWA) is being sued for breach of contract, fraud and defamation. Antonio Galloni resigned earlier this year after a majority share in The Wine Advocate was bought by a group of Singaporean investors. At the time Galloni was in the middle of an extensive report on Sonoma wines, which he didn't deliver, but offered to deliver via his own website. TWA are accusing him of ‘fraud and breach of his contractual obligations and his intentional and unjustifiable withholding of tasting notes’ but also for defamation. Apparently he made comments published in The New York Times which suggested his independence would be compromised under the new ownership and its new editor-in-chief Lisa Perotti-Brown.

Although Robert Parker himself is not mentioned in the lawsuit, he remains CEO and chairman of the board of the Wine Advocate and commented on its bulletin board, ‘Our actions are simply a matter of retrieving a service we paid for on your behalf. This is not an attempt to stop Antonio from moving on; we continue to wish him our very best.’