The Shocking Theft of Grand Cru Wines in Burgundy: Details and Implications

A maintenance worker at prestigious wineries managed to take thousands of expensive wine bottles without ever selling or consuming them.

The wines of Burgundy are pricey and watched closely. The team at Maison Albert Bichot noticed a gradual disappearance of bottles from their Beaune cellar last year. In response, they set up hidden cameras.

On February 8, the cameras captured a middle-aged, trusted maintenance worker secretly taking four bottles from the winery, including wines from Nuit-St.-Georges premier cru and Chambolle-Musigny, valued together at approximately €522 or $575.

The footage sparked an investigation that brought the case before the Dijon Tribunal. On August 6, it was found that this 56-year-old worker had stolen close to 1,500 bottles valued around €600,000 from three different wineries over seven years. During the trial, it was revealed that his thefts might have started much earlier. The worker named François (last name undisclosed for privacy) was handed a one-year suspended prison sentence and a €10,000 fine.

His defense? Kleptomania.

As stated by Olivier Caracotch, the Dijon prosecutor, there’s no proof that François ever consumed or sold the wines he stole. His odd compulsion to collect premium Burgundy wines started about 15 years ago during his tenure in labor-intensive roles at several Côte d’Or vineyards. This particular case focuses on wines taken from 2017 to 2024, during his employment at Maison Joseph Drouhin, Albert Bichot, and another unnamed négociant.

After being caught stealing on camera in February, the director of Albert Bichot took legal action by filing a police report. François had been an employee since 2020 and was expelled from the property. The appearance of a police vehicle spooked him, prompting a frantic dash into the cellars where he was promptly detained. Four bottles were discovered hidden in the warehouse loft.

Armed with a search warrant, police officers were able to expose the massive scope of his “collection.” Beneath his house, in the cellar, they found thousands of bottles, some labeled and some not. They discovered more in similar quantities beneath the terrace in the backyard, and under the terrace in the front yard. When confronted with the scale of his thefts, François became emotional and disclosed a fourth stash in his mother’s cellar.

A representative from Albert Bichot was summoned to the wine cellars and noticed bottles from two previous négociants the accused had been employed with, the presence of unlabelled wines which usually only occurs right before shipping aimed to be a compelling evidence.

The prosecutor eventually accused François of the theft of 1,285 individual bottles and 186 magnums from his last three employers, with the haul including 56 bottles of Vosne-Romanée premier cru and 46 bottles of Chambertin grand cru.

During interrogations, the authorities, who tagged him as “half-kleptomaniac, half-collector,” received a confession from François who justified the thefts by his desire to enhance the aesthetics of his cellar. He confessed, “To make it look pretty,” revealing his habit of sitting amidst his collection to admire it.

His defense attorney, Nathalie Lepert de Courville, presented a narrative that her client was driven by an appreciation for beauty. She described wine as a significant cultural symbol since ancient times, revered during the Last Supper, and likened it to a form of art, suggesting that her client was captivated by its beauty and spiritual value.

His wife, who has since left him, described him as a “hoarder.” An expert witness suggested kleptomania.

He certainly exhibited none of the attributes one might associate with a grand cru thief. He lived a modest lifestyle and enjoyed gardening and hunting with his friends. His ancestors had been vignerons in the region. His bank accounts showed no signs of illegal gains. Prosecutors admitted that “nothing indicates he sold a single bottle.”

In court, he told the judges that “it was more mechanical than anything.” A psychiatrist suggested to him that the stealing might have been an expression of a brewing depression. He recounted how he might steal “a few bottles a week, never more than twenty.” Sometimes he stole nothing when he had too much work, as “work came first.”

In the end, prosecutors charged him with theft—226 bottles and 27 magnums, worth €161,720, from the cellars of Joseph Drouhin, taken while he worked there from 2017 to 2018, as well as 1,059 bottles and 159 magnums, worth €420,085, taken from Albert Bichot.The precise quantity and its value stolen from the third négociant was not made public, but is thought to be significantly smaller, with the total value of the wines stolen during the seven year period €641,805.

Albert Bichot, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, requested only one symbolic euro for damages. The attorney representing the winery highlighted the “human dimension of the case,” while fellow employees regarded him as an “esteemed and dedicated” worker who they did not wish to “burden.”

All of the wine was ultimately returned to its rightful owners.

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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!