Thieves Steal €5M Worth of Wine from Tuscany Warehouse

Thieves stole about 30,000 bottles of premium wine worth approximately €5 million (CAD$8 million) from a Marchesi Antinori warehouse in Tuscany, Italy’s largest family-run winemaker said on Friday. The heist targeted high-end vintages including Solaia, Tignanello, and Guado al Tasso, which typically retail starting at €150 and reach thousands of euros for rare bottles. The winery, founded in 1385, exports its products to 170 countries and has alerted international customers to watch for offers outside official distribution channels.

Seven Masked Men Target Cortona Storage Facility

The suspects disabled alarm systems before loading thousands of cases of Tuscan red wine onto two trucks. Staff discovered the break-in on a Monday morning when they arrived at the warehouse. The stolen inventory consisted heavily of Solaia, with 8,000 to 10,000 bottles taken, alongside other flagship labels. A company representative noted that the targeted stock had already been prepared for shipment, making it readily accessible for the thieves to load.

Investigators Suspect High Training and Inside Help

Marchesi Antinori CEO Renzo Cotarella told the Italian publication Corriere Della Sera that he believes the perpetrators were “highly trained” and suggested the operation might be linked to a previous heist at the Banfi winery in Montalcino earlier in the year, where 3,300 bottles valued at nearly €100,000 were stolen. Lorenzo Vivoli of the winery’s communication department told the New York Times that he suspects inside involvement due to the precise timing and the disarming of security systems. Vivoli explained that shipments of that magnitude occur only twice a year. They got the perfect timing, Vivoli said, as reported by globalnews.ca. It’s almost like they knew.

Police Probe and Global Warnings Continue

Italian police in Cortona are actively investigating the theft, and no arrests have been made. Vivoli told the New York Times that the winery’s insurance policy will cover only one-tenth of the price. Police have assured the company that 30,000 bottles of wine would not simply disappear. Meanwhile, Antinori continues to cooperate with law enforcement and urges global partners to scrutinize any suspicious offers appearing outside official sales channels.

A theft of this scale and value has certainly never occurred in Italy.

Renzo Cotarella