Hotel ‘guests’ steal 45 bottles from Spanish wine collector

ALBERTO ARCE
Associated Press

VALBUENA, Spain (AP) — Police in Spain are investigating the robbery of 45 valuable bottles of wine from an upscale private collection. The thieves checked in as guests at a luxurious hotel, dined at its Michelin-starred restaurant and later deceived an employee to sneak into a massive cellar, where they hand-picked the most valuable wines in a collection of over 40,000 bottles. The pair walked out with their booty without being noticed and after paying the bill for their stay. The collector, José Polo, said Friday that the pair are believed to be professionals who knew exactly what they were doing. He says one of the stolen bottles is a Chateau d’Yquem bottled in 1806 valued at 350,000 euros.