A burglar with a knowledge of fine wines made off with 76 bottles from Napa Valley’s celebrated The French Laundry restaurant, including Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, a French Burgundy that sells for more than $10,000 a bottle
BarkGrowlBite | January 2, 2015
The French Laundry is an upscale Napa Valley restaurant that has been awarded the coveted three-Michelin-star rating. Employees are usually at the restaurant 24/7, but Christmas Day was different. A burglar, who had to be a connoisseur of fine wines, took advantage of the unoccupied eatery by pilfering 76 bottles of wine with an estimated value of $300,000. The burglar or burglars broke through the French Laundry’s wine cellar door sometime after 2 p.m. on Christmas Day.
The burglar passed up moderately priced bottles, taking only the most prized wines, including Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, a French Burgundy that sells for more than $10,000 a bottle. The thief also took bottles of Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon, the finest wine produced in the Napa Valley.
The crook or crooks will have a hard time disposing of their loot. Each bottle of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti has a serial number that can be traced back to The French Laundry. Since that wine is so rare, selling it in bulk would immediately arouse suspicions. The best bet is to sell it one bottle at a time spread out over a period of many months. And to avoid tracing of the serial numbers, it would almost certainly have to be sold to Europeans.
As for the burglary, it should be noted that no one set the alarm for the restaurant’s wine cellar. One would immediately conclude, aha, it’s an inside job. But since employees are almost always there 24/7, it is easy to understand that no one would think about setting the alarm.
The investigation is being conducted by the Napa County Sheriff’s Department.
For now at least, some crooked wine connoisseur is having a very, very Happy and Prosperous New Year.
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