Solaia, Tignanello and Guado al Tasso from the 2023 vintage vanished from a warehouse in Cortona; losses are put at about 5 million euros
Marchesi Antinori, one of Italy's best-known wineries, had about 30,000 bottles of wine stolen from its warehouse in Cortona, in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany. The loss is estimated at about 5 million euros. According to the newspaper Corriere della Sera, cited by Il Fatto Quotidiano and BlogSicilia, it is the largest wine theft ever recorded in the country.
The theft was noticed on the morning of Monday, October 5, when employees arrived for work. Reports differ on exactly when it happened: Il Fatto Quotidiano says Sunday night; BlogSicilia, the nights between October 2 and 4.
All of the bottles are from the 2023 vintage. About 10,000 are Solaia, and the rest include Tignanello and Guado al Tasso, two other reds from the house. According to Corriere and the Financial Times, cited by BlogSicilia, these wines sell for 120 to 300 euros a bottle. Solaia is made in quantities of 60,000 to 70,000 bottles a year, which, according to BlogSicilia, could make any attempt to resell such a large lot look suspicious.
According to the reconstruction published by the Italian press, the thieves disabled the alarm, knocked out the cameras and drove in with two trucks. The bottles were loaded onto pallets using the warehouse's own forklifts. The number of people involved varies: at most five, according to BlogSicilia; at least seven, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano. The Carabinieri and police are investigating, the Arezzo prosecutor's office is awaiting a detailed report and, according to BlogSicilia, investigators do not rule out help from someone who knew the site. The trucks have not been found.
Antinori's chief executive, Renzo Cotarella, told Corriere that this was a very well-prepared gang, perhaps the same one that has hit other Italian wineries in recent months. He told the Financial Times he still hopes to recover the wine, because two trucks cannot simply disappear. In September, the Conterno Fantino winery, in Monforte d'Alba, in Piedmont, was also targeted by thieves, BlogSicilia notes.
The company has alerted its international sales network and asked customers to be wary of offers outside official channels. The bottles carry an anti-counterfeiting system. In the Bebidário catalog, the house is represented by Villa Antinori Toscana Rosso, which is not among the labels named in the theft.
Sources: Il Fatto Quotidiano (October 9, 2026), BlogSicilia (October 9, 2026).
