Thieves steal 30,000 wine bottles worth €5m in Italy, reports say

Italian media have confirmed that a sizable robbery took place at the Tuscan estate of Marchesi Antinori, the country’s oldest family‑owned winery. The 2024 incident saw at least 30,000 bottles of a prized red collection – including Tignanello, Solaia and Guado al Tasso – seized from the storage yard on Saturday morning.

Seven masked men are believed to have disabled security alarms, shut down cameras and then used the company’s forklifts to load two large trucks. The thieves were described by security footage as methodical and well‑prepared, installing their own tools to ride significance.

Chief executive Renzo Cotarella told national broadcaster Corriere della Sera that this is the biggest theft of its kind to date in Italy, noting the scale as “unprecedented in the country”. “These wines are highly valuable and we do not understand how they will be sold worldwide without being seen,” he said at a press conference.

The stolen bottles, which normally retail between €150 and €500 each, suggest that the thieves had inside knowledge or were connoisseurs themselves. Protecting two trucks full of merchandise in a country with roads heavily monitored by cameras offers a slim hope for recovery.

The robbery was discovered only on Monday when staff returned to the site. No arrests have yet been made, and local police are combing footage from highways and nearby villages in an attempt to trace the cargo. Authorities are working with customs officials who monitor the movement of high‑value goods along Italian borders.

Marchesi Antinori, founded in 1385 and exporting to 170 countries, reported a revenue of €263m last year. The theft aligns with a recent pattern of wine‑theft incidents across Italy, two of which in the Piedmont region last year involved hundreds of thousands of euros’ worth of bottles.

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