Thieves Steal 30,000 Bottles of Wine Worth €5 Million in Italy’s Biggest-Ever Heist

Thieves have stolen around 30,000 bottles of premium Italian wine worth an estimated €5 million (USD 5.8 million) from a winery in Tuscany, in what the producer has described as the largest wine theft on record in Italy.

The theft targeted a facility belonging to Marchesi Antinori, one of Italy’s oldest wine-producing families, near Cortona in the province of Arezzo. At least seven thieves allegedly carried out the operation on Saturday night, making off with some of the country’s most sought-after wines, including Solaia, Tignanello and Guado al Tasso.

The theft was discovered on Monday but was made public on Friday to avoid interfering with the investigation, according to the company.

Chief Executive Renzo Cotarella said the gang disabled the winery’s alarm system and surveillance cameras before entering the premises with two large trucks. The suspects then used the company’s forklifts to load the bottles onto the vehicles and escape under cover of darkness.

“It is certainly a very well-prepared gang,” Cotarella said, adding that the same group might have targeted other Italian wineries in recent months.

The stolen bottles were all from the 2023 vintage and generally retail for between €150 and €500 each. The haul included approximately 10,000 bottles of Solaia, one of the winery’s flagship labels, from what Cotarella described as an exceptional year.

Founded in 1385, Marchesi Antinori has been run by the Antinori family for 26 generations. The company is now alerting customers worldwide to exercise caution when offered its wines through unofficial sales channels.

Police and Carabinieri officers are examining surveillance footage and other evidence to establish how the stolen bottles could be transported and sold. Cotarella expressed confidence that investigators could trace the shipment, noting that moving two truckloads of wine would be difficult without attracting attention.

The robbery surpasses a major theft in 2017, when around 2,000 bottles of rare wine worth €750,000 were stolen from a warehouse near Cervia on Italy’s Adriatic coast.