A major wine theft worth an estimated €5 million has hit the Marchesi Antinori winery in Cortona, in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany. Around 30,000 bottles of fine wine were reportedly stolen, including some of Italy’s most prestigious labels, such as Solaia, Tignanello and Guado al Tasso.
According to initial reports, at least seven people carried out the heist overnight between Sunday and Monday. The gang appears to have planned the operation carefully, allegedly disabling the alarm system and surveillance cameras before using the winery’s own forklifts to load the stolen bottles onto two large trucks.
The haul reportedly included around 10,000 bottles of Solaia from the 2023 vintage, a substantial share of the wine’s annual production, estimated at between 60,000 and 70,000 bottles. Several bottles of Tignanello, one of the best-known names in Italy’s Super Tuscan category, were also taken, along with Guado al Tasso, produced at Antinori’s estate in Bolgheri. Some of the stolen bottles are believed to be worth at least €300 each.
“This is clearly a highly organised gang, possibly the same one behind other winery break-ins across Italy in recent months,” said Renzo Cotarella, CEO of Marchesi Antinori, highlighting the extraordinary scale of the theft.
The Carabinieri and the police are investigating the incident, working to reconstruct what happened and identify those responsible. The winery, whose history dates back to 1385 and which is now run by the 26th generation of the Antinori family, has already alerted its international customers, urging them to be wary of suspicious offers and to purchase wine exclusively through official sales channels.
Investigators are now trying to establish where the thousands of bottles will end up and whether the theft is linked to other similar crimes targeting Italian wineries. Beyond the substantial financial loss, the case raises concerns about the possibility of high-end wines being sold on the market through illegal channels.