Thousands of bottles of wine, with an estimated value of €5 million (£4.2 million), have been stolen from the Marchesi Antinori winery in Cortona, Tuscany. This incident is believed to be the largest wine heist of its kind in Italy.
A gang of at least seven masked individuals reportedly broke into the cellar, disabled alarms and surveillance cameras, and then used company forklifts to load 30,000 bottles onto two large trucks before leaving. The theft occurred on Saturday, 3 October, as the company prepared for a major international shipment, but was only discovered by staff on Monday morning, 5 October.
Among the stolen wines were prized varieties such as Solaia, Guado al Tasso, and Tignanello, all from the firm’s 2023 vintage. These bottles range in price from €120 to €400 each. Renzo Cotarella, chief executive of Marchesi Antinori, told Corriere della Sera that a theft of this scale and value had never happened before in Italy.
Mr Cotarella expressed confidence that investigators would trace the stolen wine, noting that two trucks full of merchandise cannot simply disappear. He also mentioned that the company's insurance policy does not cover a robbery of such high value. Marchesi Antinori, established in 1385, has advised customers to be cautious of any offers of its wine outside official channels.