€5 Million Heist Targets Antinori’s Tuscan Wines

Thieves stole 30,000 bottles of wine worth an estimated €5m from a storage facility belonging to Marchesi Antinori, one of Italy’s largest family-owned wineries. Italian media reported that the theft took place on Saturday in Tuscany while the company was preparing an overseas shipment. At least seven masked men are believed to have disabled alarms and cameras before using the winery’s forklifts to load two large trucks with bottles of Tignanello, Solaia and Guado al Tasso, its prized Tuscan red wines. Chief executive Renzo Cotarella described the incident to Corriere della Sera as the largest theft of its kind in Italy. He said he hoped authorities could trace the trucks, noting that the region’s roads are monitored by cameras, and told the Financial Times that the high-value wine would be difficult to sell internationally without attracting attention. The winery believes the thieves’ choice of bottles—which typically retail for €150 to €500 each—suggests they were wine connoisseurs and may have had inside knowledge. Staff discovered the theft on Monday morning. No arrests had been made at the time of the report. Founded in 1385, Marchesi Antinori exports to 170 countries and reported revenue of €263m last year. The incident follows other wine thefts in Italy this year, including two in the northern Piedmont region in which bottles worth hundreds of thousands of euros were reportedly taken.

At least seven thieves stole about 30,000 bottles of wine, valued at an estimated $5.8 million, from a Marchesi Antinori facility near Cortona in Tuscany. The company described the theft as the largest wine robbery on record in Italy. According to Chief Executive Renzo Cotarella, the group disabled the alarm system and surveillance cameras, entered the facility with two large trucks, and used the winery’s forklifts to load the bottles before leaving overnight. The theft was discovered on Monday, but the company waited until Friday to announce it so as not to interfere with the investigation. The stolen wines include Solaia, Tignanello and Guado al Tasso, all from the 2023 vintage. About 10,000 bottles were Solaia, which Cotarella called an exceptional-year production. The bottles typically retail for between 150 euros (about $168) and 500 euros (about $560) each. Antinori is a historic, family-run producer founded in 1385 and now managed by the family for 26 generations. It is alerting customers worldwide to avoid suspicious offers outside official sales channels. Authorities, including police and Carabinieri officers, are reviewing surveillance footage and other evidence and investigating how the wine could be sold. Cotarella said the two truckloads would be difficult to move without attracting attention and expressed confidence that investigators could trace them. He suggested the thieves may be the same group responsible for other recent winery thefts. The article notes a July theft of 3,300 bottles from Castello Banfi and a 2017 robbery near Cervia in which about 2,000 bottles of rare wine were stolen.

Thieves reportedly stole approximately 30,000 bottles of wine, valued at €5 million, from a winery belonging to Marchesi Antinori in Cortona, Tuscany, last weekend. Italian media reported that at least seven people took part in the heist, arriving in two large trucks after disabling the winery’s alarm system and cameras. The stolen wines included prestigious Antinori labels Solaia, Tignanello and Guado al Tasso. The report was published by Corriere della Sera and cited comments from Antinori CEO Renzo Cotarella, who described the gang as apparently well prepared and said a theft of this scale and value had never before occurred in Italy. Cotarella suggested the robbery could be linked to other recent winery thefts, though this was not confirmed. He expressed confidence that some of the wine might be recovered, noting that two trucks carrying the goods would be difficult to conceal and that roads in Tuscany are monitored by cameras. Up to 10,000 bottles of Solaia may have been taken. The sought-after wine was first made by the Antinori family in 1978 and is produced only in exceptional vintages, when harvest conditions and grape quality meet the company’s standards. Bottles cost hundreds of euros. Antinori, whose history dates to 1385, is one of Italy’s best-known winemakers. The company reportedly warned customers to be wary of offers for its wines made through unofficial channels.

France 24 reports that thieves stole approximately 30,000 bottles of wine from a warehouse belonging to the Marchesi Antinori winery in Tuscany, Italy. The outlet describes the theft as a multi-million-euro heist and says the wine was among the country’s most iconic labels. The theft took place as the winery was preparing a major export. According to the company, its initial belief was that two vans and as many as six people were involved. The report does not identify the specific wine label, give a precise valuation, or say when the bottles were taken. It also provides no information about arrests, suspects, or the status of an investigation. The 4-minute-31-second video is presented by Gavin Lee, who speaks with France 24 correspondent Seema Gupta in Rome. The report’s focus is the scale and circumstances of the theft, with the company’s account supplying the details about the suspected vehicles and number of people involved. The available article text is brief and does not include further reporting or comment from police or the winery. Its central news is the reported loss of a large quantity of valuable wine from a prominent Tuscan producer ahead of an export, and the company’s preliminary account of how many vehicles and people may have taken part.

Masked thieves stole approximately 30,000 bottles of premium wine, valued at about €5 million (CAD$8 million), from a Marchesi Antinori warehouse in Tuscany, Italy. The haul included 8,000 to 10,000 bottles of Solaia, as well as Tignanello and Guado al Tasso. These wines typically sell for at least €150 per bottle, and rare vintages can command thousands of euros. Antinori, a family-run winery founded in 1385 that exports to 170 countries, alerted its customers to watch for wine offered outside official sales channels and said it hoped the bottles could be recovered. According to security footage, seven masked men entered the winery’s Cortona storage facility last weekend, disabled its alarm systems and loaded cases onto two trucks. Staff discovered the theft on Monday morning. The wines had already been prepared for shipment, making them easier to load. Italian police are investigating, but no arrests had been reported as of Friday. Antinori CEO Renzo Cotarella described the thieves as highly trained and suggested they might be connected to a separate July theft at Banfi winery in Montalcino, where 3,300 bottles worth nearly €100,000 (CAD$160,000) were stolen. Antinori communications employee Lorenzo Vivoli said the timing raised suspicions of possible inside involvement: shipments of this size occur only twice a year, and the winery’s security systems had been disabled. The company’s insurance, he said, would cover only about one-tenth of the loss. The article reports that the stolen wines are scarce and sought after, and that the winery is cooperating with police while warning customers and distribution partners to be cautious about unofficial offers. The case is notable for the scale and value of the theft, which Cotarella said had no precedent in Italy.