Thieves swipe 1,800 bottles of Côte-Rôtie

Thieves have broken into the cellars of Domaine Garon in the northern Rhône and made off with 1,800 bottles of wine worth tens of thousands of pounds.

The thieves swiped the wine from the family-owned Côte-Rôtie estate in the early hours of Monday morning.

According to French newspaper Le Progres, at the time, the wine, from the 2012 vintage, was stacked on palettes ready for international shipping.

Kevin and Fabian Garon manage the five-hecare estate

With the estate’s wines selling from between €30-60 in France, the cost of the stolen wine is thought to be in the region of £80,000. The 1,800-bottle loss amounts to 10% of the estate’s annual production.

The Garon family has been making wine in the village of Ampuis since the 15th century.

Brothers Kevin and Fabien Garon have been in charge of the five-hectare estate since 2003 and produce a trio of wines: Les Rochins. Les Triotes and La Sybarine.

While rare, burglaries at wineries are more frequent in December when wine is being shipped abroad to customers for Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Police are currently searching for the thieves’ getaway vehicle.