$1.63 Million Worth of Wine Stolen from Iconic Parisian Restaurant, La Tour d’Argent

More than 80 rare bottles went missing from the Grand Award winner’s cellar, possibly during recent renovations

The proprietors of La Tour d’Argent, the esteemed Parisian dining establishment and Grand Award recipient, reported a theft to the police last week, after conducting an inventory of their extensive wine selection. Over 80 bottles, valued at $1.63 million (€1.5 million), have vanished from the cellar, inclusive of bottles from Burgundy’s Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. There were no apparent signs of burglary.

The loss was discovered after an elaborate refurbishment period, while the eatery was not operational, between April 2022 and September 2023. The 83 absent wines were believed to have been stolen sometime between 2020 and January 2024, during the most recent audit of the cellar.

La Tour d’Argent is a name associated with haute French cuisine. Situated on the Seine at 15 Quai de la Tournelle, the restaurant is acclaimed for its striking river view, inclusive of the Notre Dame Cathedral from the sixth-floor dining room. The atmospheric wine cellar, positioned two levels underground, holds approximately 300,000 bottles amounting to an estimated worth of $27 million.

La Tour d’Argent’s extensive history kicks off in 1582, the year it was inaugurated as an inn serving King Henry III’s aristocracy. Rapidly, the restaurant ascended to one of Europe’s most trendy dining spots.

After the French Revolution, it was reconstructed. During the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1867, a platform for countries to display their groundbreaking inventions and products, Russian Czar Alexander II, the soon-to-be Czar Alexander III, King Wilhelm I of Prussia, and Prince Otto von Bismarck shared a table. The current form of the building was formed in the 1930s, after the management relocated the kitchen and dining room upstairs to exploit the stunning views. Amidst the Nazi invasion of Paris in 1940, the then-owner of the restaurant concealed his valuable wines behind a counterfeit wall.

The wine cellar is typically tightly secured. The wine bottles are given numbers, which hampers their resale on the common market. Nevertheless, in the recent past, several top-notch restaurants have fallen prey to well-informed wine thieves who are suspected of selling to private collectors.

Don’t miss out on significant wine news with Wine Spectator’s complimentary Breaking News Alerts.

About the Author: Chris Lehoux

Meet Chris Lehoux, an experienced wine connoisseur and dedicated blogger with a deep passion for all things wine-related. With years of expertise in the industry, Chris shares insightful wine reviews, valuable wine tasting tips, expert pairing advice, and captivating tales of vineyard visits. Join Chris on a journey through the world of wine, where every sip is an adventure waiting to be savored!