Spain, First Published Oct 30, 2021, 12:50 PM IST
Two thieves stole 45 bottles of wine from a collection in an upmarket hotel and restaurant complex in southwestern Spain. The owner said a 215-year-old rare 350 350,000 (3,02,43,886.72) bottle was also stolen.
Jose Polo, one of Atrio’s owners, said the theft happened early Wednesday morning. It includes a hotel, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and a cellar in the city of Casares that hold more than 40,000 bottles. “They were professionals and they knew exactly what they were doing,” Polo said in a letter to customers and friends after the decision to publicize the robbery.
The defendants are a man and a woman who appear to have spoken in English and checked into a hotel and ate at its restaurant. They asked a hotel front desk clerk to serve them more food, and when he went into the kitchen, he went into the basement and stole the bottles, Polo said.
The couple checked out Wednesday morning with bags filled with bottles that had been used to pay with a credit card. He said he did not estimate the total value of the stolen bottles insured but that their symbolic value was even greater. Polo said it can only be delivered to a private wine collector as it has taken bottles that cannot be sold in the open market. Police have launched an investigation.
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Last Updated Oct 30, 2021, 12:50 PM IST
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