A decade ago, when baseball icon David “Big Papi” Ortiz was preparing to retire from the Boston Red Sox, he decided to partner with Havre de Grace’s Mount Felix Winery to work on a branded line of wines, called Arias.
But the relationship has since soured, and Ortiz has been locked in a years-long legal battle with Mount Felix owner Peter Ianniello, who’s accusing Ortiz of breach of contract and misrepresentation.
Ianniello claims Ortiz reneged on his part of the 50/50 partnership, and that the Arias deal — originally expected to bring in upwards of $5 million — is now “virtually worthless.”
It’s all “a complex business associations case involving: a lot of money, an unwritten partnership agreement … a company in the Dominican Republic … aspects of Major League Baseball regulations and policies and years of dealings amongst numerous parties in the Arias wine project,” as summed up by Harford County Circuit Judge Louis Becker in a 2024 ruling that denied, at least partly, an attempt by Ortiz’s team to dismiss the case.
A trial is under way this week before Harford Circuit Judge Kevin Mahoney. Ortiz was not in court Wednesday, although a cardboard cutout of him holding wine bottles was propped up in the courtroom, as an apparent exhibit.
Ianniello was on the stand Wednesday morning, being questioned by defense attorney Kurt Nachman.
The complaint states that Ortiz failed to promote the wine and demanded direct payments, costing Ianniello hundreds of thousands of dollars, while the Harford County winery owner paid for Ortiz’s travel; gave away more than $5,000 worth of free Arias wine at Ortiz’s 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame induction party; formed “Compania de Vino Arias” to sell the wine in Ortiz’s native Dominican Republic; and spent thousands to pursue a new brand, “La Chercha,” that Ortiz had told him to add to the portfolio in 2018.
He also claims Ortiz started promoting other products “but not Arias wine” in 2020.
Ortiz allegedly told Ianniello in a voicemail that “you are not solo on this,” but the winery owner says Arias Wine Holdings has about $2 million in debt.
Ortiz, a legend in Major League Baseball who became a Hall of Famer in his first year on the ballot, has had his share of high-profile incidents following retirement. He was seriously injured in a 2019 shooting at a bar in his native Dominican Republic.
Ianniello, meanwhile, gained prominence in Harford County after trying to build a housing development on 40 acres of his large Havre de Grace property.
Have a news tip? Contact Bryna Zumer at bzumer@baltsun.com, or on X as @brynazumer .
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