Intruder Breaks Into Spanish Winery, Leaks Premium Red Wine Worth 2.5 Million Euros

An intruder broke into the renowned ‘Cepa 21 winery’ in Spain at around 3:30 am on February 18, 2024, and emptied nearly 60,000 litres of premium red wine, the winery said on Tuesday, according to an AFP report. The wine poured away and wasted on the floor was worth some 2.5 million euros ($2.7 million or Rs. 2.2 crores). The winery said that the amount of high-end wine lost could have filled 80,000 bottles. The winery is located in the Ribera del Duero region of Central Spain.

In the black-and-white security camera footage released by the winery, a person in a hoodie can be seen running from one large vat to another and turning on the taps. As the person does it, a big spout of wine pours out onto the floor. The person emptied three huge tanks of the premium wine.

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No items were stolen during the break-in. The head of the establishment, Jose Moro, told Spanish public television TVE it was clear the intruder’s sole purpose was to damage the business, AFP reported. “It’s a case of doing harm for the sake of doing harm, by someone who can’t be very balanced, hasn’t got much common sense, and is acting out of hatred,” he told the station.

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The winery owner further added that the intruder would have had to know how to operate the system to open the vats. “Everything indicates the person knew where they were,” he said.

The winery has filed a complaint with the police, who have launched an inquiry.