Thieves have stolen approximately 30,000 bottles of premium Italian wine valued at an estimated €5 million ($5.8 million) from a winery in Tuscany, in what the producer has described as Italy’s largest wine theft on record.
The robbery targeted a facility belonging to Marchesi Antinori, one of Italy’s historic wine-producing families, near Cortona in the province of Arezzo.
According to the company, at least seven thieves carried out the operation on Saturday night, making off with highly sought-after wines, including Solaia, Tignanello and Guado al Tasso.
The theft was discovered on Monday, but the winery announced it publicly on Friday to avoid interfering with the ongoing police investigation.
Thieves Disabled Security Systems
Marchesi Antinori Chief Executive Renzo Cotarella said the suspects appeared to have carefully planned the operation.
He said the group disabled the facility’s alarm system and surveillance cameras before entering the premises with two large trucks.
The thieves reportedly used the company’s own forklifts to load the wine onto the vehicles before escaping under cover of darkness.
Cotarella described the suspects as a highly organised group and suggested they could be connected to other recent thefts targeting Italian wineries.
“It is certainly a very well-prepared gang,” he said, adding that a robbery of such scale and value had never occurred in Italy.
Investigators are examining surveillance footage and other evidence to establish how the operation was executed, identify those responsible and determine where the stolen wine may have been taken.
Cotarella expressed confidence that investigators could trace the shipment, noting that transporting and distributing two truckloads of valuable wine would be difficult to do without attracting attention.
Stolen Wines Include Rare Solaia Bottles
The stolen collection consisted entirely of wines from the 2023 vintage, with individual bottles typically retailing for between €150 and €500.
Approximately 10,000 bottles were Solaia, one of Antinori’s flagship wines. Cotarella described the vintage as exceptional, adding to the significance of the loss.
The shipment also included Tignanello and Guado al Tasso, two other prestigious labels associated with the producer.
The combination of the wines’ high retail value and limited availability could make the stolen collection particularly attractive to criminal networks dealing in luxury goods.
The company has warned customers and distributors worldwide to remain vigilant and exercise caution when offered its wines outside authorised sales channels.
“We are informing our clients around the world and asking them to pay attention to any offers outside the official channels,” Cotarella said.
Historic Wine Producer Targeted
Marchesi Antinori traces its origins to 1385 and has remained under the ownership of the Antinori family for 26 generations.
The scale of the robbery has raised concerns about the security of high-value wine collections and the possibility that organised criminal groups may be targeting premium bottles for resale.
The incident surpasses a notable wine theft reported in Italy in 2017, when approximately 2,000 bottles of rare wine worth €750,000 were stolen from a warehouse near Cervia, a resort town on the Adriatic coast.
The latest case is now under investigation by police and Italy’s Carabinieri, who are working to trace the stolen bottles and determine the identities of those involved.
Authorities have not publicly confirmed whether the suspects have been identified or whether any of the wine has been recovered.
