Italian wine thieves nab $8M of vino in heist.
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thieves → nab → heist
While the theft may be Italy's largest, it's also just the most recent
First, they came for the cheese.
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they → come → cheese
Then, they came for the olive oil and the butter.
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they → come → oil
Now, thieves have come for the good wine, and we have to say these recent heists are starting to feel personal if you're the type of person who enjoys a little treat.
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who → come → treat
Last week, a winery in Tuscany revealed that thieves made off with about 30,000 bottles of some of Italy's most prized wines in what the producer described as the country’s largest wine theft on record.
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producer → reveal → record
The sought-after 2023 vintages — including Solaia, Tignanello and Guado al Tasso — are worth an estimated five million euros, or just under $8 million Cdn.
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vintages → seek → Solaia
"A theft of this size and value has never occurred in Italy," Renzo Cotarella, the chief executive of Italy's largest family-run winemaker, Marchesi Antinori, told the Associated Press on Friday.
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Cotarella → occur → Friday
Last month, 3,000 bottles of Barolo were stolen in the northern Piedmont region, according to French news site Le Monde.
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bottles → steal → Monde
In late June, thieves hit the renowned Banfi winery in Montalcino, nabbing 3,000 bottles of sparkling wine, noted an Italian news site.
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site → hit → wine
Globally, some notable recent heists include the thief who made off with about 800 bottles from a California wine shop in 2023, a couple who stole about $1.7 million US worth of rare wine from a Michelin-starred restaurant in Spain in 2021, and criminals who stole 500 kilograms' worth of white wine grapes — equivalent to about 350 bottles of wine — from a Quebec vineyard in 2020.
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who → include → 2020
Benoit Giroussens, the vineyard manager at Vignoble et Cidrerie Coteau Rougemont in Quebec, is pictured in 2020 after thieves ripped the grapes off the vines and stuffed them into garbage bags.
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thieves → picture → bags
Heists and large-scale thefts are on the rise, said Rod Phillips, a history professor at Carleton University in Ottawa who specializes in the history of alcohol.
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who → say → alcohol
Fine wine has a big black market, Phillips said, and plenty of people are willing to purchase expensive wine at a lower price.
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plenty → have → price
"There are various channels to selling fine wine and I think they're all very receptive these days, now that everybody is under financial pressure," Phillips told CBC News.
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Phillips → be → News
It also packs a lot of value into a small amount of product, with a single case sometime worth thousands of euros, said wine expert Natalie MacLean.
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MacLean → pack → euros
It doesn't spoil, either, meaning thieves can sit on it for years before selling — and unlike a painting, a case of wine isn't one of a kind.
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case → spoil → kind
"I do think it's a trend," MacLean told CBC News.
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MacLean → think → News
"People are looking to cash in and wine is a great target.
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wine → look → ?
"
What happened in Italy?
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What → happen → Italy
The most recent theft targeted Marchesi Antinori’s facility near Cortona, in the province of Arezzo, and appeared to be planned down to the finest detail, according to Italian news site Rai news.
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theft → target → news
Seven thieves disabled the alarm system and surveillance cameras, then used the company's own forklifts to load two trucks with wine and then flee into the night, Cotarella, the winery chief executive, told the Associated Press.
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Cotarella → disable → Press
The grape escape: Thieves steal 500 kilos from Rougemont winery
Why so many cheese heists?
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Thieves → steal → winery
As B.C. cops foil another, here's why cheese is so valuable
Depending on how they package them, that's about 2,500 cases of wine to lift and load, Phillips noted.
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Phillips → foil → wine
"You don't move that very quickly ... and it's obviously got to be very well planned," he said.
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he → move → that
Police and Carabinieri officers are examining surveillance footage and other evidence, the Associated Press said.
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Press → examine → footage
CBC News has reached out to the winery, and the local police department and Carabinieri for more information and not yet heard back.
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News → reach → information
A view shows vineyards and the exterior of the Marchesi Antinori winery in Bargino, near Florence, Italy, in this undated handout image.
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view → show → image
The stolen bottles were all from the 2023 vintage and are typically sold at a retail price of between 150 and 500 euros each (between $240 and $800 Cdn).
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bottles → steal → euros
They included about 10,000 bottles of Solaia, one of Antinori’s flagship wines.
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They → include → wines
Antinori makes only 60,000 to 70,000 bottles of Solaia a year, explained MacLean, the wine expert.
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MacLean → make → Solaia
That's about a sixth of a vintage gone in one night.
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That → go → night
"The Solaia loss is staggering," she said.
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she → say → ?
The theft was discovered Oct. 5, but the company made it public on Oct. 9 to avoid interfering with the investigation.
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it → discover → investigation
"People at the winery were crying,” Cotarella told the Financial Review.
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Cotarella → cry → Review
"It’s not just the value of the wine — it’s something more.
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it → ’ → wine
We can survive without this wine, but what makes me so sad is the fact that this could happen to us.
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this → survive → us
Up until recently, most wine crime usually involved fraud as opposed to theft, said Phillips, the historian.
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Phillips → involve → theft
Counterfeit Canadian ice wines made and sold in China, for instance, damaged sales in Ontario some 20 years ago.
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wines → make → Ontario
"These heists are more of a recent phenomenon," he said.
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he → say → phenomenon
Over $1M worth of olive oil stolen from transport company in Montreal
Thieves stole 100,000 organic eggs off a trailer in Pennsylvania.
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Thieves → steal → Pennsylvania
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
