When Atlanta wine lover Julian LeCraw Jr. spent $91,400 on a single bottle in 2006, he was convinced that the 1787 vintage from the renowned Chateau d'Yquem in France was worth the lofty price, then the highest ever for a white wine. Now, Mr. LeCraw says he has been left with the bitter aftertaste of a fake.

Mr. LeCraw claimed in a recent lawsuit in Atlanta that the Chateau d'Yquem and 14 other rare bottles he bought were nothing more than "worthless glass containing unknown fluids." The collector, who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for the bottles in 2006 and 2007, is suing the seller, Antique Wine Company, based in London, for $25 million.

"He really enjoyed buying these wines, which are really like pieces of art," said Mr. LeCraw's lawyer, Shea Sullivan. "Mr. LeCraw didn't believe in a million years that he was being sold fake wine."

The Antique Wine Company, which has offices in London and Hong Kong, rebuffed Mr. LeCraw's claims. The company maintains "extensive records proving traceability from the suppliers to the company," it said in a statement on Wednesday. "The proceedings brought against the Antique Wine Company will be vigorously defended.

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