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Friday, 20 October 2006

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Russell Crowe sends back £3,500 bottle of wine

Gladiator star refuses to drink 'mouldy' vino

Russell Crowe ordered a top-of-the-range bottle of wine in a top London restaurant and then refused to drink it.

The Aussie actor was dining at exclusive eatery Mirabelle when he rejected the £3,500 42-year-old vintage. But the waiter stood up to him, insisting it was fine.

Russell, 42, told BANG Showbiz: 'I wanted to do something special so I ordered a bottle of Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1964, bottled the year I was born.

'I could smell from two foot away that it had been corked, it had gone off. I let it breathe but when I took a sip I got a mouthful of mould,' he said.

'The sommelier spent about 45 minutes trying to convince us that it was the chestnut undertones and the wafts of blackberry.

'I just turned round and went, "Mate. It's off."

'He refused to accept it was corked but eventually he did replace it. Very nice it was too.'

A spokesman for Mirabelle said: 'We're glad Russell was eventually satisfied.'