British tourist faces 50 years over brazen fine wine heist

A British holidaymaker has been charged in the United States after an alleged distraction theft involving some of Burgundy’s most sought-after bottles. The case arrives amid a year already dominated by high-profile wine crimes as charted by db.

A British woman is facing up to 50 years in jail after being arrested in the United States over what police describe as an audacious distraction theft of fine wine, according to multiple reports. Natali Ray, a 56-year-old mother of three from Herne Bay in Kent, has been charged with grand larceny, conspiracy to commit grand larceny and defrauding an innkeeper after several bottles from Domaine de la Romanée Conti estate worth more than £30,000 went missing from a historic cellar in Virginia.

Prosecutors allege that Ray posed as the personal assistant to a wealthy Canadian businesswoman looking to host a 25-person dinner, using the invented persona of “Stephanie Baker” to distract staff at L’Auberge Provençale Inn & Restaurant while an accomplice slipped bottles of Burgundy into specialised pockets sewn into his overcoat.

CCTV shows alleged disguise and decoy operation

CCTV obtained by the Daily Mail is said to show Ray, wearing a wig and wool coat, telling the restaurant receptionist she wanted to see the cellar to ensure it was temperature-controlled. Patron and sommelier Christian Borel led the pair through three dining rooms into the 5,500-bottle cellar, which holds stock from many of the world’s most prestigious vineyards.

While Ray allegedly asked rapid-fire questions about American wines and played out her elaborate back story, the man with her is said to have taken eight bottles, replacing missing stock with cheap screwcap wine in an apparent attempt to delay detection.

Two of the bottles, a 2019 Échézeaux and a 2021 Grands Échézeaux, were later found outside, but six bottles valued at US$41,500 remain missing. The man escaped in a rented SUV after staff gave chase. Ray was arrested in nearby Clarke County and is being held at the Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center pending a court appearance on 3 December.

“The cojones to do that”

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Borel described the alleged theft as “so brazen,” adding, “The cojones to do that, right in front of them, during business hours with cameras everywhere. Are you serious?”

He said Ray’s polished manner and “well-travelled” demeanour initially convinced him of her fictional cover story, only realising something was amiss when he spotted screw top bottles in the cellar, where estates such as Romanée Conti exclusively use cork. Staff and a patron attempted to intercept the pair, and two stolen bottles were recovered in the grass outside.

Ray reportedly offered conflicting explanations once detained, first claiming she had met the man on a cruise, then stating she had been forced to take part. Her alleged accomplice remains at large.

A year defined by wine crimes

The case adds another dramatic chapter to what has already been a banner year for wine-related criminality. As reported by the drinks business in its “db wine crime files 2025,” crimes against drinks companies have run into billions of pounds this year.

The series charts cases including sophisticated counterfeit operations involving half a million dollars’ worth of printing equipment, a London pedicab driver who used a wheelie bin attached to his tuk tuk to steal £31,000 of wine, and a fatal shooting at a luxury Napa resort with a significant wine programme.

Other cases include the jailing of French producer Didier Chopin for passing off carbonated still wine as Champagne, a cyber attack on Asahi that halted shipments of its flagship beer and whisky brands, and a Yorkshire police dog uncovering £110,000 of stolen mulled wine.

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