30,000 bottles of fine wine were stolen in Italy, worth $5.8 million

(CNN) - Masked thieves stormed a warehouse in the Italian city of Cortona and seized about 30,000 bottles of wine produced by the prestigious Marchese Antinori vineyards, with a value exceeding $5 million, in what the company describes as being among the largest wine thefts ever reported in history.

Antinori CEO Renzo Cotarella told CNN on Friday that the thieves disabled the alarm system to carry out the daring theft, which occurred over the weekend, but was not discovered until Monday, when workers arrived to prepare the wine for export.

The stolen bottles of wine were all from the year 2023, and included some of the company's most sought-after brands, with international retail prices ranging from $168 to $561.

“Solaia, Guado al Tasso and Tignanello are our most prominent and distinctive wines,” Cottarella said, describing them as benchmarks for the region’s famous Super Tuscan red wine category. It produces between 60,000 and 70,000 bottles of the “Solaya” type annually, and thieves have seized about 10,000 bottles of them.

No arrests have been made so far, as Cortona police reported that they were conducting a large-scale search for the perpetrators, but they did not say whether they believed that the two trucks used in the theft were still inside Italy.

A statement issued by Marchese Antinori said: “Given the size of the theft, both in terms of the number of bottles stolen and their estimated market value, this incident may be classified as one of the largest wine thefts ever recorded in history. Investigations by the competent authorities are still ongoing, as are the necessary assessments to determine the exact scope of the theft.”

Cotarella pointed out that the company urges consumers not to buy this wine from unknown sellers, and to report it if it appears in the markets. Since the wine was in the warehouse in preparation for shipment, it was packed and wrapped in boxes, which made it easier for thieves to transport it.

This theft comes on the heels of a series of other wine theft incidents. Last month, 3,000 bottles of Barolo wine, worth around 400,000 euros, were stolen from the Conterno Fantino vineyard in the Italian region of Piedmont. It is not clear whether there is a connection between the two robberies.

The Marchese Antinori company was founded in 1385, and is currently run by the family in its twenty-sixth generation. It exports its products to 170 countries, and its annual revenues amount to about 265 million euros.

Cotarella expressed confidence that the stolen wine would be found, saying: “Two trucks cannot simply disappear. I am always armed with optimism.”