Wine investor waited too long to sue auction house

NEW YORK -- A billionaire wine investor waited too long to file a lawsuit that claimed a New York auction house misrepresented a Bordeaux as belonging to Thomas Jefferson.

A three-judge federal panel issued the ruling Thursday. It said William Koch missed the deadline when he filed the suit in 2005.

It said a four-year statute of limitations began in 2000. That's when Koch obtained results of a report he had commissioned on the age of the wine.

Koch claimed that the auction house promoted the wine as belonging to Jefferson when it knew otherwise.

He said the panel dismissed the case on a technicality and he was disappointed.

Christie's said it was pleased with the ruling.