(Wine-Searcher) - Defendant's "victory laps and self-congratulations" are premature; plaintiff will continue fight over fake wine.

A British wine company accused of selling fake wines to a Georgia property investor has successfully had the case dismissed from US courts – but it could still find itself in the dock in England.

Julian LeCraw Jr filed a $25 million lawsuit in April last year, alleging that the Antique Wine Company (AWC) had knowingly sold him fake wines, including a bottle of 1787 Château d'Yquem, bottles of Lafite-Rothschild dating back to 1784 and a 1908 Margaux. The property magnate bought the Yquem for $90,000, making it the most expensive wine ever sold at that time.

The wines first caught the attention of a visiting wine merchant and were subsequently examined by wine fraud expert Maureen Downey and declared fakes.

Le Craw was also suing for money he claimed was owed to him by AWC for consignment sales of some of his wine collection.

AWC filed a motion to dismiss the case in June.

On March 20, Judge Richard W Story dismissed the case on the grounds that Atlanta was not a convenient venue for the action, given the fact that the defendants were based in England and many of the other people likely to be involved in any action were also based in Europe. He also noted the heavy workload likely for the court in such an action.

"For the foregoing reasons, defendants' motion to dismiss based on forum non conveniens is granted subject to defendants' acceptance of service in English courts," his judgement read.

That means LeCraw can pursue the case through the English courts, if he chooses to do so. He also has 30 days to appeal the court's decision.

Meanwhile, AWC's managing director Stephen Williams said he hoped any bitterness between the parties could be put behind them.

"Despite our success in this litigation, AWC still hopes to resolve any dissatisfaction Mr LeCraw Jr might have with our company, just the same as we would [with] any other client," he said in a press release.

LeCraw to pursue case

However, LeCraw's lawyer, John O'Shea-Sullivan, said the matter had not been dismissed and that AWC's "victory laps and self-congratulations" were premature and described the dismissal as an administrative issue.

"The 'dismissal' was purely procedural and not on the merits [of the case]," he told Wine Searcher. "The court made no judgment on the merits of Mr LeCraw's claims and did not say one party was right and the other was wrong. All the court held was that Mr LeCraw is required to sue in England."

O'Shea-Sullivan added that the fight was definitely not over. "Mr LeCraw is considering all of his options, which include an appeal, another lawsuit in Atlanta, a new lawsuit in England, or some combination of these options," he said. "Unless the parties somehow settle beforehand, there will be continuing litigation over Mr LeCraw's claims – the only question is where."

He also slammed the AWC press release as "misleading".

"Mr Williams acts as though this is over and that AWC has been vindicated. To the contrary, Mr LeCraw's claims are very much alive, although still unadjudicated. Mr Williams is about to get sued again. Williams' offer to try to resolve Mr LeCraw's 'dissatisfaction' is laughable. Mr. LeCraw brought the fake wine to Williams' attention in early 2013. He tried to get Williams to 'resolve  LeCraw's dissatisfaction' for nearly one year before filing suit. Mr Williams refused to provide any useful information and his British attorneys would not return phone calls. Mr Williams has still not provided basic information about the sales of Mr LeCraw's consignment wine or the provenance of many of the fake wines."

The attorney said that the underlying claims in the case remained unchanged.

"Facts are facts: AWC admits selling the wine to LeCraw," he said. "Williams denies that the wine is fake, but his denials are unequivocally contradicted by wine authentication expert Maureen Downey, as well as the very châteaux from which the fake wine supposedly originated. AWC and Williams have also admitted that they owe Mr LeCraw more than $100,000 for his consigned wine (although the actual debt is much greater).