Alarms Disabled, Forklifts Used... 7.5 Billion Won Worth of Wine Stolen

Foreign media outlets, including the Associated Press, reported on the 10th local time that about 30,000 bottles of premium wine worth 5 million euros, or approximately 7.5 billion won, were stolen from the warehouse of a famous winery in Tuscany, Italy.

The gang of thieves, estimated to be up to 7 people, broke into the export wine storage facility of the Marchesi Antinori winery near Cortona in the province of Arezzo on the night of the 3rd.

They fled with about 10,000 bottles of Solaia, the winery's flagship wine, along with Tignanello and Guado al Tasso.

The stolen wines are all from the 2023 vintage, with retail prices ranging from 150 to 500 euros per bottle, or roughly 230,000 to 750,000 won in Korean currency.

The crime was discovered only on the 5th after the weekend passed, and the winery revealed the damage on the 9th so as not to hinder the investigation.

It is reported that the thieves disabled the alarm system and security cameras, used a forklift found at the warehouse to load the wine onto two large trucks, and escaped.

Renzo Cotarella, the CEO of the winery, stated, "The 2023 vintage is exceptionally outstanding," and added, "We are advising customers worldwide not to purchase the wine unless it is through official sales channels."

The AP reported that this incident is the largest wine theft in Italy since about 2,000 bottles of rare wine were stolen from a warehouse near Cervia in 2017.

The value of the wine stolen at that time amounts to about 750,000 euros at current exchange rates.

Last month, 3,000 bottles of Barolo wine were also stolen in the Piedmont region of northern Italy.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.