According to an article by The Associated Press on October 10th, a ‘shocking theft’ occurred in the Tuscany region of Italy recently, involving the theft of 30,000 bottles of wine worth approximately 5 million euros. The winery stated that this is ‘the largest wine theft case in Italian history’.
The theft occurred at the Antoni family winery near Cortona in the Tuscany region. This winery has a history of over 600 years and is one of the most famous wineries in Italy. Surveillance footage shows that the thieves carried out the theft on the evening of the 2nd local time. Seven to eight masked men loaded wine into two trucks, with another two men responsible for driving. The entire theft process lasted approximately three hours.
According to reports, the winery discovered that wine had been stolen on the 5th. To avoid interfering with the investigation, the case was not announced until the 9th.
Antonello Family Winery's CEO, Renzo Cotella, said that before the thieves entered the winery in a truck, they first damaged the alarm system and some surveillance cameras. They used the winery's forklifts to load the wine onto the trucks and fled at night. He stated that there is no doubt that it was a "well-prepared group."
The stolen wines were all from the 2023 vintage, including several top-quality wines. The price of each bottle ranged from 150 to 500 euros. It is estimated that the total value of the 30,000 stolen bottles is about 5 million euros. Antoni Family Winery described this as “the largest wine theft case in Italian history”.
Italian police and military forces are examining surveillance footage and other evidence to investigate possible sales channels for the stolen wine. Cotaerea said that the winery is informing customers around the world to remind them to be cautious of any offers obtained through unofficial channels. He added that it would be difficult to move two trucks full of wine without being noticed, and he believes investigators will be able to track down the whereabouts of the goods.
The Associated Press noted that the scale of this case far exceeds any previous wine theft incidents in Italy. The biggest wine theft incident in Italy occurred in 2017, when thieves stole about 2,000 bottles of wine from a warehouse near Chieti in the Emilia-Romagna region, worth approximately 750,000 euros.
