Thief Escapes With Restaurant’s Rarest Wines
A collection of wines, including a bottle of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti. (Wikimeida Commons/Arnaud 25)
A Virginia restaurant is grappling with a costly theft after thieves toured its wine cellar and stole six bottles of some of the world’s rarest and most expensive wine. The incident occurred at L’Auberge Provençale in Clarke County on Nov. 19 during a slow moment when “the first table had just sat down,” sommelier Christian Borel told the Winchester Star.
A man and woman, posing as representatives of a discerning Canadian wine collector, requested a look at the restaurant’s cellar, which contains more than 350 selections, including the ultra-rare Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Borel described the wine as reserved for the very top .01% of wealth, “not the 1 percenters.”
While inside, the woman distracted Borel with questions about local wines, allowing her accomplice to slip the pricey bottles into what appeared to be a specially designed coat, replacing them with “pretty poor replicas,” according to the sommelier. The pair then abruptly left, prompting staff to quickly pursue them to a nearby parked car.
Borel attempted to block the vehicle as the man tried to drive away. He escaped with six bottles valued at approximately $42,000, though the woman, 56-year-old UK citizen Natali Ray, was pulled from the car. She now faces charges including grand larceny and defrauding an inn, according to the Washington Post.
The stolen bottles, including one valued at $24,000, are considered irreplaceable, with only three others shipped to Virginia restaurants this year, Borel said. While insurance may cover part of the loss, recovery of the wine appears unlikely, and it may already be on the black market. Authorities continue to search for the male suspect, described as wearing a bushy toupee.
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