The prestigious Marchesi Antinori winery from Tuscany, in central Italy, and which in Chile owns Haras de Pirque, has denounced the theft of 30,000 bottles of wine, valued at around five million euros, in what would be the largest wine theft in the country, as reported this Friday by the newspaper Corriere della Sera.
According to statements by its executive director, Renzo Cotarella, to the Italian newspaper, the price of the stolen bottles ranges between 150 and almost 500 euros each, around $164 thousand and $547 thousand Chilean pesos, respectively.
A robbery “of the century”: 30 thousand bottles stolen from a winery in Italy
The robbery, according to the first reconstruction, occurred on Saturday night, when seven masked individuals stole boxes containing thousands of bottles of high-quality red wine from the 2023 vintage. They did so deactivating the company alarm system and then they loaded the boxes into two trucks.
“Without a doubt, this is a highly trained gang, perhaps the same one that has raided other wineries in Italy in recent months. “A robbery of this magnitude and value had never occurred in Italy,” Cotarella pointed out,
Employees discovered the theft Monday morning upon returning to work.
Due to the quality of the wine, it is investigated what its market could be, since it is difficult not to arouse suspicion given the sudden increase in the supply of these bottles, explain.
“We are informing our customers around the world,” explains the company led by Albiera Antinori, “we want to warn them to be careful with offers outside official channels”.
According to Corriere della Sera, the gang of wine thieves is likely to carry out these thefts on commission: this was the case in mid-September at the Conterno Fantino winery in Monforte d’Alba. 3,000 bottles of Barolo Sorì Ginestra were stolen, including “magnum” and “jeroboam” formats, for a total value of between 300,000 and 400,000 euros.
Marchesi Antinori, based in Florence, it is one of the largest and most important wineries in Italy, with a long history dating back to 1385. It remains a family business, generates annual revenues of approximately 263 million euros and over the years has also acquired land and wineries in Umbria, Apulia, Piedmont, Lombardy and in California (USA).
Within Chile, she is the founder of Haras de Pirque, whose vineyards have strains such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Carménère.
Source: www.biobiochile.cl
