Famous Italian winery loses 30,000 bottles worth $8 million in heist

Skip to Content News Archives Economy Defence Energy Oil & Gas Renewables Electric Vehicles Mining Commodities Agriculture Real Estate Mortgages Mortgage Rates Finance Banking Insurance Fintech Cryptocurrency Defence Work Wealth Smart Money Wealth Management Investor Personal Finance Family Finance Retirement Taxes High Net Worth FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials More Innovation Information Technology FP500 Podcasts Small Business Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Financial Post Store Obituaries Place a Notice Advertising Advertising With Us Advertising Solutions Postmedia Ad Manager Sponsorship Requests Classifieds Place a Classifieds ad Working Profile Settings My Subscriptions My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ News Economy Energy Mining Real Estate Finance Defence Work Wealth Investor FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.HomeFinancial TimesFamous Italian winery loses 30,000 bottles worth $8 million in heistAntinori says it hopes to 'protect the market' by alerting potential buyersAuthor of the article:Last updated 15 minutes ago Florence-based Antinori told the FT the thieves last weekend targeted its warehouse in Cortona, Tuscany, just as the winery was preparing to ship a large consignment of some of its most valuable bottles to customers abroad. Photo by iStock / Getty ImagesItaly’s biggest family-owned winery, Marchesi Antinori, says professional thieves stole 30,000 bottles of wine worth about $8 million from its storage facility in Tuscany in what it believes to be one of the largest wine thefts in recent history.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLYSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountIt is the latest in a series of wine heists in Italy, carried out by criminals whose careful selection of bottles reflected wine connoisseurship and inside knowledge of their targets.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Florence-based Antinori, which traces its origins back to 1385, told the FT the thieves last weekend targeted its warehouse in Cortona, Tuscany, just as the winery was preparing to ship a large consignment of some of its most valuable bottles to customers abroad.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againSeven masked men disabled the alarm system and hauled off their booty — thousands of cases of the winery’s famous Tignanello, Solaia and Guado al Tasso Tuscan reds — in two massive trucks on Saturday night. The stolen bottles typically retail for between €150-€500 each.The theft was not discovered until Monday morning, when employees arrived to find the wine was gone. The winery has extensive surveillance camera footage of the theft. Police are investigating but have yet to make any arrests.Renzo Cotarella, Antinori’s chief executive, said the company, which had revenues of about €263 million last year and exports to 170 countries, was sounding the alarm in the hope that oenophiles in Italy may help them track down the missing bottles.“We still hope we are able to find the wine…two trucks cannot just disappear,” Cotarella said. “These wines have a great value and I don’t know how they can sell all this wine around the world without being seen.”This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.He said Antinori also wanted to “protect the market” by alerting potential buyers that bottles offered to them from unusual sources at tempting prices may be stolen property.Wine theft is not unusual in Italy, but thieves have typically targeted Michelin-starred restaurants with well-stocked wine cellars and made off with a handful of highly valuable bottles worth tens of thousands of euros each.This summer, for example, two men dressed as workers wearing hard hats and high-visibility vests managed to open holes in shatterproof glass at Milan’s famed Affinatore restaurant to seize several bottles of prized Romanée-Conti wine worth a total of €280,000.Bottles are also occasionally stolen from trucks while in transit.Professional thieves this summer targeted wineries where thousands of bottles have been carted away from their climate-controlled storage facilities over a period of hours.This summer, the historic Banfi di Montalcino reported 3,000 bottles of its best Alta Langa wines had been stolen from its warehouse in Piedmont by thieves who “carefully selected the bottles” and whose choices suggested “they knew exactly what they were doing.”This advertisement has not loaded yet.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Last month, four thieves seized 3,000 bottles of popular Barolo wines at the Conterno Fantino winery, also in Piedmont, in just under three hours with the aid of a forklift in the warehouse.But the theft at Antinori is thought to be the biggest in Italy — and internationally — both in terms of the volume and value of the bottles taken.“People at the winery were crying,” Cotarella said. “It’s not just the value of the wine — it’s something more. We can survive without this wine, but what makes me so sad is the fact that this could happen to us.”© 2026 The Financial Times LtdNotice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.