About 30,000 bottles of luxury wine worth 5 million euros, or approximately 7.5 billion won, have been stolen from a warehouse at a famous winery in Tuscany, Italy, according to foreign media outlets including the Associated Press on October 10.

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

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

All of the stolen wines are 2023 vintages, with retail prices ranging from 150 to 500 euros per bottle, roughly 230,000 to 750,000 won.

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

The thieves reportedly neutralized the alarm system and surveillance cameras, and then used a forklift inside the warehouse to load the wine onto two large trucks before fleeing.

Renzo Cotarella, CEO of the winery, stated, "The 2023 vintage is exceptionally outstanding," adding, "We are notifying customers around the world not to purchase the wine unless it is through official sales channels."

The Associated Press 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)