A spokesman for Vladimir Putin has dismissed media reports the Russian president owns a luxury Spanish villa and is planting a vineyard to produce his own exclusive wines.
A January 8 report by Britain's Daily Mail claims the Russian leader has purchased a $22-million estate near the city of Marbella on Spain's southern coast.
The report alleges Putin has also purchased 25 grape vines with the aim of producing rare Pingus wines, which are produced without pesticides or fertilizer and can sell for as much as $1,100 a bottle.
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Ekho Moskvy radio, however, that the British newspaper report "does not correspond with reality" and is an "unoriginal joke."
The Kremlin denies claims the Russian leader enjoys a massive hidden fortune and numerous luxury properties, including a billion-dollar Italian Baroque mansion on Russia's Black Sea coast.
