Italy’s great wine heists: from winery cellars to the vaults of Michelin

Thirty thousand bottles have been stolen from the cellars of Marchesi Antinori in Cortona, Tuscany. At €5 million, it is the biggest wine theft in Italian history. The gang struck at night in a near-military operation, evading alarm systems, disabling security cameras and loading hundreds of cases onto lorries, making off with prized bottles from the 2023 vintage. But it is only the latest chapter in a long series of attacks on the country’s most prestigious wine estates, from Montalcino to the Langhe, from the vaults of Michelin-starred restaurants to trucks loaded with pallets. Organised crime is not after safes or share portfolios, but the “red gold” of Italian viticulture. These are top-quality products which, when stolen in bulk, can be stockpiled and resold on parallel markets across the Atlantic, in Eastern Europe and at clandestine auctions around the world, and even to Italian venues through underground sales channels. Escalation in Piedmont In 2026, gangs repeatedly targeted Piedmont’s flagship producers, with two near-identical raids just months apart. In late June, the Banfi Piemonte winery in Strevi was ransacked, with more than 3,000 bottles of Alta Langa DOCG taken, among them the prestigious Cuvée Aurora and the Riserva 100 Mesi, along with entire pallets. In September 2026, the same script played out at the historic Conterno Fantino estate in Monforte d’Alba, one of the Langhe’s most revered Barolo producers. Working at night with their faces covered, the thieves used the winery’s own forklifts to load some 3,000 bottles of top-end Barolo (vintages 2021 and 2022, including magnums and jeroboams) in around three hours. The damage runs to hundreds of thousands of euros, and the job was carried out with cold logistical efficiency. A trail of plunder Across Italy, the robberies reveal a striking pattern of made-to-order raids. In the Langhe, they include Fontanafredda (about 170 cases, December 2015), Cordero di Montezemolo (250 cases, June 2016) and Parusso (120 cases, July 2016). In Montalcino, thieves hit Cupano (900 bottles, December 2016) and Col d’Orcia (1,000 bottles of Brunello, including vintages dating back to 1964, January 2017, with an estimated value of between €50,000 and €100,000). Large-scale logistics have also been targeted: 16,000 bottles of fine wine were stolen from a warehouse in Modena (October 2015, about €100,000); 9,000 bottles of Masi’s Costasera Amarone were reported missing from a logistics warehouse in the Verona area in January 2023 (more than €315,000; in September 2004, 12,000 bottles of Amarone, worth around €250,000, had already been stolen from Masi’s own depot); and 16,000 bottles were taken from Enoitalia in Montebello Vicentino (€45,000, wines destined for Lidl supermarkets). In February 2024, it was the turn of the Sergio Mottura winery in Civitella d’Agliano, in the province of Viterbo, where 6,000 bottles were carted off on pallets, with losses of more than €90,000. The most recent hits are those at Banfi in Strevi (more than 3,000 bottles of Alta Langa, valued at anywhere from tens of thousands to around €100,000, according to estimates) and Conterno Fantino in Monforte d’Alba (more than 3,000 bottles of Barolo). The commando teams operate with the precision of special forces, studying where and when to strike. They disable alarm systems. They select their target wines with pinpoint precision. And then they sell the goods on black markets. Raids on restaurants The wave of thefts is also taking a heavy toll on high-end restaurants. Over the years, thieves have plundered some of Italy’s most important Michelin-starred restaurants and wine shops. At Caino in Montemerano, bottles worth €80,000 were taken (March 2025) after the thieves dug their way into the vault. At L’Orso Grigio in Ronzone, 768 bottles were reported missing, worth more than €35,000, and three former employees are on trial over the case. At La Cantina di Soncino, around €40,000 worth in wine, food and equipment was stolen. And there was the spectacular theft at L’Affinatore in Milan, where 19 bottles of Romanée-Conti worth more than €280,000 were taken in June 2026. The cinematic Madrid vault heist and the Paris job Made-to-order raids like these are not confined to Italy; they have spread across Europe. The 2022 break-in at the two-Michelin-starred Coque restaurant in Madrid caused a stir after a highly specialised gang managed to gain access through the adjoining pharmacy, which was closed at the time. The haul: 132 collectible bottles worth between €150,000 and €200,000. In Paris, an inventory carried out in January 2024 at the restaurant La Tour d’Argent found 83 bottles missing, including Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, worth around €1.5 million. They had vanished with no sign of forced entry. This article was reviewed by an external translation partner