Thieves stole $320,000 in rare Burgundy from a Milan restaurant in under three minutes

Thieves stole 19 bottles of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti from Affinatore, a steak house and wine restaurant in Milan, in a break-in that lasted less than three minutes and targeted some of the most valuable wines in the cellar, according to the restaurant and an account published by Wine Spectator.

The robbery happened at about 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 13. Security camera footage showed two men dressed as construction workers, wearing hard hats and reflective vests, using metal rods to smash the restaurant’s glass front door. They then broke the glass display case that held the Burgundy collection and left with bottles that the restaurant said have a market value of about $320,000.

Christian Scarica, Affinatore’s wine director, told Wine Spectator he had never imagined such a theft could happen at the restaurant. “It’s like a movie,” he said.

According to Scarica, the thieves appeared to know exactly what they wanted. He said they went straight to the section holding Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, often known as DRC, and took mostly Romanée-Conti and La Tâche. The stolen lot included nine bottles of La Tâche, four bottles of Romanée-Conti and three bottles each of Richebourg and Romanée-St.-Vivant. Other high-value wines in the same display, including Masseto, were left behind.

That detail has led Scarica to believe the men may have visited the restaurant before the break-in to study the layout. “They planned everything,” he told the magazine.

Affinatore owner Pino Scalise was alerted by building security shortly after the theft and sent photos to Scarica. Police were called immediately, but Scarica said officers arrived about an hour later. No suspects have been publicly identified, and no investigative leads have been disclosed.

The restaurant posted surveillance footage of the robbery on Instagram in an effort to draw attention to the case. It also released the serial numbers of the missing bottles in hopes that merchants, collectors or auction houses might spot them if they re-enter the market. The serial numbers are 18766, 04714, 04667, 06338, 06401, 03524, 01855, 6569, 06610, 03935, 02002, 3675, 00957, 01769, 01950, 02036, 04701, 03438 and 06090.

Despite the damage, Affinatore opened for service that same night after covering the broken entrance with wood paneling. The display case has since been repaired. The remaining DRC bottles have been moved into the restored space.

Scarica said the wines were insured at wholesale value, which may cover part of the direct loss. But he said that does not replace what the restaurant could have earned from future sales or the years spent securing allocations from one of Burgundy’s most sought-after producers. The stolen bottles covered vintages from 2014 through 2022. “This is seven years of allocation work, gone,” he said.

The case matters beyond one restaurant because it highlights a growing risk around trophy wines that now trade at prices comparable to luxury watches or jewelry. For restaurants, retailers and collectors in the beverage business, thefts like this can raise pressure to invest in stronger physical security, tighter inventory controls and more detailed bottle tracking. They can also complicate insurance coverage and secondary-market due diligence when rare wines with known serial numbers begin circulating privately.

Affinatore has already changed its security procedures. Scarica said the restaurant added an alarm system with a smoke-dispersal feature designed to obstruct intruders during a break-in.

The Milan theft follows another recent DRC robbery at L’Auberge Provençale in Virginia, a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence winner. In that case late last year, four bottles with a market value of nearly $40,000 were stolen. Wine Spectator reported that those bottles were later recovered and one of two suspects was sentenced to one year in jail; the second suspect is believed to be abroad.

Scarica said he has little hope that Affinatore’s bottles will be recovered soon. Still, by publishing serial numbers and video images, the restaurant is trying to make it harder for the wines to be sold openly through legitimate channels. In a market where provenance is central to value, any public record tied to specific bottles can make resale more difficult even when recovery remains uncertain.