Wine Heist of the Century: Technician Steals $500k Worth of Burgundy Wine

A maintenance technician has been charged with stealing wine valued at approximately $500,000 (£430,000) from premier Burgundy estates over the span of 15 years, all while never consuming a single drop. The 57-year-old man, whose identity remains undisclosed, faced court on Tuesday, accused of pilfering up to 8,000 bottles of wine.

Technician Steals $500,000 Worth of Burgundy Wine, Leaves It Untouched

This remarkable case, considered one of the largest cellar thefts in French history, began to unravel earlier this year when security footage captured the technician stealing four bottles of wine from his workplace. The footage prompted a police investigation, leading to the discovery of a vast collection of stolen wine in the cellars of his house and his mother’s house.

Dijon prosecutor Olivier Caracotch stated that the search revealed not only the four bottles seen on camera but also an additional 7,000 to 8,000 bottles amassed over 15 years from various wine estates where the man had been employed. The haul included grands crus from Vosne-Romanée, some bottles valued at over $1,000 each. Despite the enormous value, Caracotch noted, "nothing indicates he had sold a single bottle."

A Twist In The Story

In a bizarre twist, the man, described by detectives as “half-kleptomaniac, half-collector,” claimed that he had no interest in financial gain or drinking the wines. Instead, he simply wanted to “sit in the middle of his cellars to contemplate them.” Living a modest lifestyle and earning the trust of his employers, he aroused no suspicion until the CCTV footage exposed his activities.

One of the primary victims of this theft was Maison Bichot, a distinguished wine house operating since 1831. Despite recovering all the stolen bottles, the wine house is claiming only a symbolic one euro from the defendant, who has pleaded guilty. The local radio station, France Bleu Bourgogne, reported that all the bottles have been returned to their rightful owners.

Wine Heist of the Century

French TV news channel CNews highlighted this incident as the joint biggest cellar heist in French history, alongside a 2019 theft from the home of a Bordeaux wine broker. That heist included cases of Petrus and Mouton-Rothschild wines, along with a bottle of Romanée-Conti Burgundy, which is reputedly the most expensive wine in the world. The total loss in that case was also estimated at more than half a million euros.

As the case continues, the peculiar motivations and meticulous methods of this unlikely wine thief captivate both the wine world and the public. While his actions disrupted the sanctity of some of France’s most prestigious cellars, the fact that he left the bottles untouched speaks volumes about his unusual obsession.

Get our free mobile app