Thieves Abscond with $200,000 Worth of Wine in Italy

Thieves in Barolo, Italy, recently managed to steal thousands of bottles of wine worth more than $200,000 from two wineries, Wine Spectator reports. Cordero di Montezemolo winery was hit at the end of June, when 250 cases of wine were stolen, and the most recent strike happened last week at the Armando Parusso winery.

The thieves were apparently highly strategic in their methods, donning special suits to conceal themselves from security cameras. The three perpetrators allegedly stole 120 cases of wine from Armando Parusso, packing the goods into one of Parusso’s own trucks after taking keys from an office. The wines stolen last week were reportedly quite rare, and owner Marco Parusso told Wine Spectator he hoped that would help with the recovery of the bottles.

This is hardly the first case of high-volume wine theft. Last summer, bandits in England stole around $2.4 million worth of vintage wine from a warehouse that supplied the royal family and even had the gaul to pop some bottles of Moët & Chandon champagne in the facility to celebrate the theft. A Chablis producer in France suffered a $56,000 loss to thieves, and The French Laundry in California had $300,000 worth of wine stolen in 2014, though the parties involved with that heist were recently arrested.

• Barolo Burglars Steal Thousands of Bottles of Wines [Wine Spectator]
• Thieves Popped Bottles of Moët After Stealing $2.3 Million of Wine From the Queen's Supplier [E]
• Bandits Have Stolen $56,000 Worth of Wine From a Top Chablis Producer [E]

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