Thieves steal 30,000 bottles from Italian winery in record heist

CORTONA — Thieves stole 30,000 bottles of wine valued at €5 million from Italy's largest family-owned winery in what is believed to be the largest wine theft in the country's history.

At least seven masked intruders disabled the alarm system at the Marchesi Antinori logistics warehouse near Cortona two weeks ago, said the winery's chief executive officer Renzo Cotarella.

They then used the company's own forklifts to load the packaged wines, which were awaiting shipment to international markets including France and the United States, onto two trucks that sped away.

READ MORE: Sangiovese grape key to Cecchi family's Italian wine success

READ MORE: Wine critic recommends five bottles with flavour, flair and value for holiday season

"This is a theft of unprecedented scale for the wine industry in Italy, carried out by a group that was clearly highly organized and well prepared," Cotarella said.

The well-organized theft targeted red wines from the 2023 vintage, including the winery's coveted labels Solaia and Tignanello.

Antinori's fine wines are highly collectable, making them a target for the black market.

The stolen inventory will impact market availability around the world, but won't affect upcoming releases of its wines in Ontario and other parts of Canada.

According to Mika Giroux, an event management and sales representative for Ontario-based Halpern Wine Enterprises, one of Antinori's international partners, inventory for upcoming Ontario releases has already been delivered.

Tignanello 2023 is featured as part of the Nov. 7 release at Vintages outlets in Ontario.

Guado al Tasso 2023 and Solaia 2023 are currently scheduled for release at the LCBO later in the year, she said.

The biggest losses internationally include 10,000 bottles of Solaia, a cabernet-based blend produced from a 50-acre vineyard that only yields 60,000 to 70,000 bottles each vintage.

The 2022 vintage of Solaia sold for $587 per bottle at the LCBO.

The sangiovese-based Tignanello comes from a larger parcel on the same hillside property in Tuscany, which produces around 300,000 bottles each year. Novello Desserts reported in October that the sangiovese grape is key to another Italian family winery's success.

The winery's labels feature a multi-layered anti-counterfeiting system, including embossed elements on the bottles, scannable QR codes and security strips.

These measures help buyers ensure they are receiving authentic bottles, though the scannable elements won't help locate the stolen bottles.

In 2019, Italian police arrested three suspects looking to sell 11,000 counterfeit bottles of Tignanello labelled as the 2009, 2010 and 2011 vintages which contained low-quality red wine.

Another anti-fraud investigation uncovered 54,000 bottles of fake fine wines, including Tignanello, being sold into Switzerland between 2016 and 2018.

Marchesi Antinori will be featured as part of Toronto's 22nd annual Grand Cru Culinary Wine Festival, a fundraiser for the University Health Network Foundation.

Guado al Tasso 2023 will be among the wines poured during Halpern's portfolio tasting Oct. 28 at the Enercare Centre.

With files from The Globe and Mail